Interlude
by storyLil
Summary: Set between 1x17 and 1x18 this focuses on the start of Michael and Nikita's relationship.
1. Chapter 1

_This takes place directly after 'From Promise to Ultimatum to Covenant' in between episodes 1.17 and 1.18. I read somewhere that supposedly a week had passed between these episodes, that will be the timeframe for this story. I always found it a little strange that Michael and Nikita went from being at each others throats to very much in love and comfortable with each other in seemingly record time. So this is my attempt to fill in what might have happened to make it so. Don't expect a plot. Do expect naughtiness, it's rated M for a reason after all._

 _I've already written a big part of this story but it has not been finished entirely and a large part has yet to be edited, so I'll be posting as I get along._

 _English still isn't my first language, every mistake is mine, Nikita is not. A big thank you to the kind people who either reviewed, followed or favourited 'From Promise to Ultimatum to Covenant'. I hope you'll like this one too._

* * *

 **Interlude**

*1*

Falling asleep with your lover's arms around you, their body pressed up against yours as intimately as physically possible, was an experience both Michael and Nikita had not had in several years and never with each other. Both were also familiar with the fact that even sleeping in the same bed with someone after years of sleeping alone - at least for the most part, nearly always took some getting used to. Sounds, movement, added warmth, less space… One would have thought at least the space issue could have been relevant in Michael and Nikita's case as they slept in that tiny little excuse for a bed of hers, but as it turned out, it wasn't. They fit. In more ways than one. Literally and figuratively. Like a two piece puzzle.

Michael had insisted Nikita get some much needed rest after a very short post coital discussion of the events that had eventually led them into each others arms. He'd kissed the top of her head again after lovingly ordering her to go to sleep for a second time despite her mild protests when she had felt him hardening again inside of her. By some miracle of sorts she'd listened to him though and fell asleep nearly as soon as she closed her eyes and by an even greater miracle Michael was able to drift off shortly after her, feeling at peace for the first time in a very long time as she surrounded his body with hers in every way possible.

When Michael woke after only a short while then, it wasn't because of lack of space, sounds or movement by Nikita. She was still fast asleep, the sound of her rhythmic, slow and deep breathing providing him with a sense of tranquility that was heightened by the feel of the fingers of her left hand tucked just slightly beneath his ribs, while her right hand lay just beneath his pectoral muscle. Her fingers twitched in her sleep. She looked so incredibly young, her head resting over his heart, her long hair fanned out over his shoulder and part of his arm. She looked as peaceful as he felt, save for one of mother nature's tricks.

He'd woken up fully aroused. Expecting to slip out of her somewhere during the night when he fell asleep, he was somewhat surprised to wake up completely hard and feeling Nikita's muscles holding on to him and contracting mildly now and again even as she slept. It took everything in him not to wake her and roll her over to have a repeat performance of earlier that evening. _She needs to rest_ , he told himself, _let her sleep_. Repeating this to himself over and over and thinking back on what he'd put her through the past days, he managed not to hold on to her too tightly or let his hands roam free. His guilty conscience and his worry about her didn't quite help his heightened senses though.

Michael was all too aware of where her body touched his, of the soft, warm skin of her back under the fingertips of his one hand, while her hair was woven through the digits of the other as he cradled her head. A slight turn of his head would push his nose into these sweet smelling tendrils, but he dared not move. As it was he was having a hard enough time not gritting his teeth in an effort to calm his clamouring body and keep his breathing under control. An effort that proved to be quite useless when Nikita gripped him a little tighter than before and he let escape a soft moan, a tingle traveling up his back.

How was he supposed to resist when even asleep she was temptation personified? Her body more delicious than he had dared imagine, her touch sweeter than anyone's before her. Any fantasy about her he had grudgingly allowed himself before they finally came together only hours ago, didn't even come close to the real thing. And now here he was, laying underneath her, the woman he loved more than he thought himself capable of after all that had happened to him - to them, fighting quite possibly a losing battle with himself to let her sleep. His guilt and noble efforts fading away in the light of her tempting glory.

He repeated his mantra to himself again and managed to relax the tiniest bit. Enough to be able to slowly slip his fingers out of her hair and from her warm skin to rest his hands beside his body. _Less touching would make this easier_ , he told himself, pressing his eyes tightly shut and still struggling to regulate his breathing.

And that is how it came to be that Nikita woke by movement anyhow. Missing the feeling of being enveloped in his arms even when sleeping, she awoke slowly. Instantly aware of her own arousal, it took her but a moment to assess the situation. Michael's body was tense underneath her. Her muscles contracted of their own accord around his thick length once more and she felt him tense a little as she bit her lip to keep from moaning out loud. She couldn't help the smile that formed as she realised Michael wasn't even aware of her having woken as caught up in himself as he was in this moment. She had her suspicions as to why he wasn't acting upon his obvious desire as he had been insistent she'd get some much needed rest after their first round of lovemaking and she fell in love with him deeper for it. That of course didn't mean she agreed with him on her needing rest more than she needed him and she wasn't going to let him torture himself, or her for that matter, for a second longer.

She raised her head to see his face in a slight grimace. One of her hands travelled to one of his feeling it gripping the sheet underneath it. She covered it with her own, prying loose his fingers to intertwine them with hers. Her other hand reaching out to caress the furrow in his brow as she touched her lips softly to his. _Oh Michael._ She felt his other hand traveling up her back to curl into her hair again, holding her to him as he released a shuddering breath. And thus their lovemaking started anew. This time with Nikita as the conductor of their pleasure as she refused to let Michael flip her over.

 _They_ _would go slowly next time_ , Nikita had thought during their first time. _That would have to be postponed to at least their third time_ , she fleetingly thought now as she moved her body over Michael's. Her hands roamed over his chest, tweaking his nipples as she passed them and a shuddering groan was her reward. Michael pushed his pelvis up and into hers as his hands travelled over her body, touching and kneading her flesh. He lifted his head to capture her lips in a kiss and she sighed, answering his groan with a moan as he rotated his hips in just the way she needed to heighten her desire to boiling point.

Feeling him everywhere she sped up their pace a little more, gripping Michael's length a little tighter with each thrust. "Oh god, Nikita", he moaned as she rode him in tight little strokes, twisting her pelvis just a bit to achieve just the right amount of pressure. She kissed him languidly as she sat up all the way, coaxing him to follow her up by holding him to her as she alternated between nibbling on his lips and stroking her tongue softly along his in counterpoint to the fiery rhythm she kept up. He was completely under her spell, holding onto her hips as she rode him. The familiar tingle up his spine told him he wouldn't last much longer and apparently Nikita knew this to be true as well for she told him between kisses, "Let go, Michael".

He wouldn't though, not without her and so he told her just before finally twisting her underneath him, "Not yet, you too". By some herculean force of will he managed to hold on and changed their rhythm to slow deep strokes, rubbing their bodies together anywhere and everywhere possible until he felt Nikita begin to shudder, fingernails biting into the skin of his upper back. She was close, the feeling of his hard length thrusting into her almost leisurely, the touching of their pelvises every time he sunk into her to the base, left her gasping for breath. "Michael", she begged.

His hands holding onto her shoulders, his chest brushing hers and her legs tightening around his buttocks every time he thrust home, he kissed her hard. Her hands disappeared into his hair again as she kissed him back just as passionately, their tongues tangling as she met his rhythm thrust after thrust. He felt the tell tale quiver of her body and pushed into her a little farther. Just a few more deep strokes were all it took to send her over the edge and she broke their kiss moaning. Eyes locking, Michael followed her into bliss. Spilling himself into her, he shuddered as her warm wetness enveloped him even more tightly than before, milking his hot flesh. He collapsed into her welcoming embrace as her arms curled around him, both of them reveling in the aftershocks of their union. Out of breath and still involuntarily thrusting against each other, they held on to each other tightly, being as close as possible the most important thing in the world.

When they eventually started to come down, their breathing slowing and limbs loosening, Michael slipped from her body and Nikita couldn't help but feel a little bereft. Funny how until a few hours ago she hadn't known emptiness, not until he had covered and filled her body with his own and shown her what it was like to really, truly make love. So when Michael started to shift his weight soon after, she held him in place and tilted his face up to hers. In a near perfect role reversal from their first time she kissed away the question in his eyes and told him simply, "Sleep", as she tried to coax his head to rest on her breast this time around. Michael though, somewhat back to his senses again and his protective streak shining through, objected with a whispered, "I'm too heavy".

Her answer was preceded by another slow and sensual kiss that had him moaning once more. She just shook her head slightly and repeated her loving order as she directed his head to her breast anew, her hand in his hair, "Sleep, hon".

Her use of the abbreviated endearment led him to give in, kissing her breast right over her heart. Pulling the sheet over their rapidly cooling bodies, he nestled his arms into her sides. One hand curling underneath a breast, the other around a shoulder, he relaxed into her. Feeling one of her hands softly caressing his hair and the other lightly tracing the vertebrae of his neck, he let himself be lulled to sleep by the soothing sound of her heartbeat and the wondrous feeling of utter contentment being in her arms like this gave him.

* * *

Nikita didn't follow him into sleep right away. She lay there, Michael's torso a comforting weight upon hers. Her busy fingers not only relaxing Michael into sleep but also having a hypnotising effect on herself even though she was intensely aware of Michael and everywhere her body was in direct contact with his. The texture of his short hair as it slid past her fingertips over and over again. The cool skin of his neck underneath the pads of the fingers of her other hand, his hands - relaxed in sleep - holding onto her, his breath tickling the skin of her breast on every exhale and one of his legs, slung over one of hers, tucked against the inside of her other leg from knee to toe. If someone had told her three days ago, she would be laying here in this moment, wide awake with Michael asleep in her arms, both of them naked after they had made love two glorious times in one night to boot… she probably wouldn't have stopped at calling them crazy.

To think that just a few hours ago she was worried sick about Michael, if he was okay mentally, physically. It was mind boggling really. He'd put her through hell, forcing her to risk her life because he'd been convinced she was the one that stood between him and his holy quest for revenge. He'd been utterly blind to anything else and she had been the one to nearly pay for it with her life, not to mention the threat he'd uttered to Alex. And now here they were.

She had nipped his attempts to apologise in the bud. Not once, but three times actually. Truth of the matter was, there probably wasn't an apology conceivable that would suffice. Michael knew that too, he hadn't had that much difficulty with putting even the beginning of one into words for nothing. And she? If she was being honest, she didn't really want one. If you needed to apologise for something you were too late anyway, the damage was done. You should have thought your actions through beforehand, not after the fact. At least that was the one thing she picked up from one of the many foster mothers she had had that had actually made sense too. Not that she managed to live by the rule herself all the time…

What Michael had done to her, an apology wouldn't fit. They would need to talk about it though. She knew that. She knew it would be painful for both of them too. That was the most pressing reason she'd deflected his attempts to do exactly that. They had both hurt quite enough up until then. She was also a firm believer of taking some time now and again to reflect upon events, something Amanda had taught her. Though she didn't quite manage to do that too, most of the time. But in this case, when everything had spiraled out of her control faster than she could process, she would. She couldn't not. That had also been a reason for her to ponder her history with Michael and it's recent dramatic low point at length when she drove home earlier in the day. And it was for that very same reason she was now wide awake. Happy and content at having him in her arms, feeling completely and thoroughly loved - something she had yearned for for a long time but hadn't expected to happen any longer - and at the same time she was worried about what their future would hold. And that was without factoring in Division.

She'd be damned if she wouldn't make sure they tried their very best to work out all of their differences and difficulties. Because, heaven knew how much she loved him. More than any other man before him, maybe even more than life itself. She had loved him for a long time and she was quite convinced that would never change. And now that she finally had him with her, she didn't ever want to let him go. But they did need to figure out a way to make it all work between them. Nikita sighed, they would talk, soon, maybe tomorrow if Michael could stay, would stay long enough.

 _Tomorrow_ she told herself, _tomorrow will be soon enough_. She lifted her head to kiss the top of Michael's and just as she lowered it again to close her eyes his gravelly voice called to her softly, "Go to sleep Nikita". For some reason she found this quite funny and snorted in a not so ladylike manner, which in return made Michael lift his head and shift up and off of her, turning them both on their sides. He pulled her in close, tangled his legs with hers and breathed against her lips, "Sleep", before kissing her reassuringly. She wrapped one arm around his shoulders and moved the other between their bodies until she found his hand with hers. And then she kissed him just as sweetly as he'd kissed her. "Goodnight", she whispered and closed her eyes too. An affirmative, "Hmm", was the last she heard before sleep claimed her.


	2. Chapter 2

*2*

Michael woke the next morning to the sun shining brightly through the windows of Nikita's loft. Nikita herself was still tucked into him the way they'd gone to sleep, the only difference being she'd turned her face into his shoulder. Maybe to unconsciously shut out the bright sunlight as much as possible. Judging by the sun's rays he figured it must be close to eight o'clock and he wondered when the last time had been when he'd slept this late. An overdose of emotions topped off with a hefty dose of very good sex did things to a guy, he figured. And apparently to a girl too, judging by the way Nikita still slept on. He'd let her sleep as long as she would, he decided instantly. Only just resisting the urge to caress her long dark tresses or trace the curve of her neck to her supple back lest his touch woke her up.

Michael had woken up in the middle of the night for a similar reason as Nikita had before. Her fingers had stopped their comforting movement on his skin and in his hair and she'd tensed ever so slightly. But unlike the tension Michael had expressed when he'd inadvertently woken Nikita, the tension she'd expressed wasn't of a possibly pleasurable nature. He knew her long and well enough to know when she was turning things over and over in her head. It didn't happen all that often, seeing as she had a tendency to think on her feet and act immediately, but when it did, you could be sure that whatever it was, was by no means something not to be taken seriously. Not that he could do anything but, given that he had a feeling he knew exactly what it was that was keeping her up, but it did lead him to question what the right approach would be for both of them. Every time he had tried to apologise last night she had cut him of. He couldn't think of a fitting apology anyhow, so he hadn't pressed, but she should know how deeply sorry he truly was, acceptable explanation or not. And to him Division's machinations - were she had placed the blame last night, weren't good enough.

So he lay there, focussing on keeping his breathing slow and even and his body relaxed, thoughts weighing heavily on his mind but determined not to be overcome by them. He forced himself to focus on just where he was, in Nikita's hiding place, in her tiny bed with her in his arms. Nikita. The recruit he couldn't help but fall in love with. She had turned his world upside down. Their very first kiss had felt like an oasis in a desert to him, but letting it progress into something more at that point would have been the ultimate betrayal to Elizabeth and Hayley. And instead of coming to terms with his ever escalating feelings for her, he had made one of the poorest decisions in his career at Division and his life and had sent her away, without talking to her about it first, without talking to her period. To Chicago. Where she met Daniel. And then Daniel was killed and Nikita left. In search of revenge and definitely out for blood, Percy's and maybe his own too. Or so he had thought.

If he were completely honest with himself he probably didn't think he had been ready for all the feelings Nikita and that fateful first kiss stirred in him. He and Lizzy had promised each other forever once and truth be told, his grief over losing her and their little girl had not only been tremendous but it had also been a faithful companion giving purpose to his life in the form of revenge where Division and the purpose he believed it was meant to serve, didn't.

Nikita had overwhelmed his senses from the very start. He thought he had been able to rationalise their undeniable chemistry away as just clicking really well with someone on more than one level, but that kiss had blown every rational argument he had given himself up until then straight out of the water. That he hadn't been ready for it and everything it entailed was confirmed by the ad hoc decision to send her on a long term deep cover, not that he had dared admit that to himself at the time. He had rationalised this decision as he had everything to do with Nikita: it was for her own safety.

He had been a fool then and at least until a little shorter than a day ago now. Liz and Hayley had died that fateful first day of spring nine years ago at the hands of Division, he now knew. But even if they had died at the hands of a terrorist it wouldn't have made a difference to the fact that he had willingly set aside the knowledge that neither Lizzy nor Hayley would have ever wanted him to lead a life driven by hatred under any circumstance. They would have wanted him to live, really live. To start again and find happiness and love as he would have wanted them to, had the bomb not missed its intended target that day. How many times he had made Nikita pay the price for his blindness he didn't much care to count.

Feeling the warmth of her body next to his, her scent surrounding him while she slept so trustingly in his arms, he couldn't help but wonder how he had gotten so lucky to have her with him like this even for the briefest moment. After everything. The only words he had spoken during their first time making love weren't spoken rash or at the height of passion. He loved her, suddenly it had been plain and simple to him after so many years and he needed her to know. He loved her, just as he knew she loved him too. He didn't need to hear her say it, though he plainly recalled the shock he'd felt when she'd nearly shouted it at him in the midst of an argument they had on a rooftop a few weeks ago. He could argue that her loving him probably wasn't one of the most healthy things she had ever done, but he would make sure that would change from now on.

Nikita starting to stir, pulled Michael from his musings. She stretched a bit rolling slightly away from him as she did so. Running his fingers through her hair proved to difficult to resist now and as he did just that Nikita's grip on his fingers tightened as her other hand travelled slowly down his back. Eyes still closed, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly in a smile. Michael couldn't help but smile in return at the lovely sight she made, "Hi".

Nikita opened her eyes and repeated his greeting back to him as her smile widened, "Hi". Michael brought their joined hands to his lips to kiss her knuckles. Nikita returned the favour as she snuggled back into him. Hugging him to her she let out a contented sigh. They lay there silently for a while, Nikita enjoying waking up slowly for a change and Michael content to let her as long as he got to hold her close.

"This is nice", she spoke after a while. Michael agreed, "Hmm, very nice", and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Nikita sighed again, "Do you need to go?". Michael held her a little closer as he replied, "No". Nikita didn't respond in any way outwardly but Michael also knew her well enough to know that wouldn't last long. He didn't really want their talk to turn serious right away but knew it couldn't be postponed indefinitely either.

"I don't have to go in for the next 48 hours", he didn't elaborate any further and she didn't ask him to.

She squeezed his hand a little, "We have some time then". It wasn't really a statement, but it wasn't really a question either and Michael wasn't quite sure what she meant by it. So when no reply was forthcoming Nikita spoke again, "To talk". She sighed again, "We should talk about where we want to go from here, but not just yet. Okay?"

Michael smiled slightly and kissed her hair again, "Okay". It seemed he wasn't the only one who preferred hiding out in their little cocoon a bit longer.

And so they spent the better part of the morning in bed together, cuddling and kissing occasionally, never letting it escalate into making love a third time but just quietly enjoying being together. Until the rumbling of Michael's stomach disturbed their peace. Nikita laughed but her mirth was short lived when she asked him when the last time was he ate and he couldn't remember. She'd freed herself from his arms. Muttering something about him needing to take better care of himself, she got out of bed and put on the first garment she found on the floor to cover the bare essentials - which happened to be Michael's shirt - and ordered him to go take a shower while she fixed them both something to eat. Michael, enjoying the show, had smiled up at her and tried to persuade her to join him. She wouldn't be deterred though, "Food first."

She made quite a picture, standing there with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face. Her tough as nails attitude only slightly diminished by the little girl look she sported with her hair all disheveled and his shirt hanging loosely around her lithe frame, stopping just above her knees. He couldn't help but smile at her, "You're wearing my clothes".

She'd looked down at herself as if only just realising he was right, "I'll get to that too". And then she had told him again to go shower. He gave in a little reluctantly and when Nikita heard the door to the bathroom shut behind him the reality of their situation hit her like a ton of bricks, nailing her to the floor.

This all was going very fast. She liked it, she felt comfortable when she was with him, safe. She always had, but didn't know for sure if she should. Only 24 hours ago… and now. They really did need to talk. The sooner the better.

And she couldn't just keep standing there either, fidgeting with a sleeve of the shirt she needed to give back to him or else he'd have nothing to wear besides his pants. She stripped out of it, found her own clothes from last night and put them on again. Nervous energy spilling from her, she then stripped the bed from its sheets, put them in the laundry and laid out clean ones to make the bed later. She needed to start cooking too if she wanted to present Michael with anything to eat when he got out of the shower like she'd told him she would. She got to work, but it did nothing to calm her nerves. Michael returning to the room sooner than she'd expected put her on edge even further.

* * *

They ate their belated breakfast in relative silence. Both not quite sure how to address the elephant that seemed to have suddenly appeared in the room with them, they mostly stuck to pleasantries. Gone was the comfortable togetherness they had had between them this morning in bed. Something had changed in her the short time Michael had not been in her presence. And even though they had talked things out a little bit last night, Michael had a suspicion that despite Nikita's adamance that they not mince a lot of words on the subject then, they should now.

They had already decided they would talk earlier and while he watched her pushing some of her food around on her plate, he felt tension radiating off of her in waves. Declaring things are different in the soft lamplight the evening before and believing they really are in the cold light of day this morning seemed to be no easy feat. Things just didn't work that way, no matter how much you might want them to. In only a few hours time they had gone from one end of the spectrum to the other. He wished he could take back the last couple of days and do everything differently… Everything except last night. He probably should have told her he loved her a lot sooner than when he had and take it from there. But his wish wasn't the way to deal with the situation at hand any more than her declaration from last night was.

The clanging of Nikita's cutlery against her plate as she put it down signaled the end of their meal together. Michael looked up at her beautiful eyes, now shifty with tension, got to his feet and reached for her hand. Pulling her up and towards him, he looked at her intently. He reached out to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking over her cheekbone. Nikita closed her eyes and relaxed the hand that had the hem of her sweater fisted into a ball. "You go take a shower, I'll clean up", he told her in a soothing voice, "We'll talk after, okay?". She nodded her head, and when he lifted her chin to kiss her softly, the hand that had still been worrying her sweater came up over his shoulder. Their kiss broke and Michael hugged her to him. Nikita let out a sigh and let him hold her for a bit, feeling some of the nervous energy leaking out of her at being in his arms again. A few minutes later Michael let out a sigh of his own. He tightened his arms around her for a second and whispered to her to go, punctuating his words with a kiss to her cheek.


	3. Chapter 3

*3*

When Nikita emerged from her shower, her nerves somewhat soothed by the warm water and Michael's tender embrace before that, she found him sitting on the edge of the bed with his back to her. He seemed to be staring at the windows. When he didn't acknowledge her as she approached she knew his thoughts had taken him miles away. Nikita saw that the clean sheets she'd laid out earlier now covered the mattress and smiled slightly to herself. He'd obviously kept himself busy just like she had when he'd been in the shower. She hitched up the long skirt of her dress a bit and sat on the opposite side of the bed.

The dipping of the mattress dragged Michael from his thoughts. A smile washing his frown away when his eyes fell upon her as she sat down curling one long leg up underneath her, hidden beneath a dark blue, flowing spaghetti-strapped dress. No make-up and her hair brushed to a shine, she was his idea of natural beauty and grace personified - the already fading bruise on her cheek not detracting from it in any way.

"What are you thinking about?", she asked softly.

His smile disappeared as fast as it had come. _Time for the hard part._ Michael could only hope they would be able to get through this conversation and beyond the rocky path that was their shared past. How could he have been so blind? She was the only thing left in his life that made any sense at all. If he'd opened his eyes sooner he would have known that this had been the truth for a long time already.

Truth, honesty, he owed that to himself and to her. So that is what he would give her and in the meantime there wouldn't be much else for him to do than hope she wouldn't throw it right back into his face as she was very much entitled to do after this latest - for lack of a better word - stunt with Kasim he had pulled.

"Liz and Hayley...", he whispered. His eyes were downcast as he answered her so he didn't notice her closing her eyes and swallowing heavily at the mention of his deceased wife and daughter's names, nerves returning at an alarming speed.

Nikita took a deep breath, his wife and child, she would never be able to compete with them, nor did she want to. She wondered what her place in his heart could be, he'd told her he loved her and she believed him. Still did. But would that be enough? "Will you tell me about them?"

Michael nodded jerkily and took a deep breath before answering, "Lizzy was such a sweet girl. Kind and caring, always putting the well being of others first… You remind me of her in that way…"

Nikita pulled her other leg up on the bed and hugged one knee hidden under her skirt to her chest while she waited for him to go on.

"We met when we were fresh out of high school. She had big plans and dreams for her future. She gave them all up. For me. So I could pursue my career in Naval Intelligence. I didn't ask her to, she just did. She just told me one night that we were supposed to be together and that she knew my dreams of a career in the Navy were fundamental to my happiness and that I was fundamental to hers. So she would find new dreams and make new plans. We got married a few weeks later, right before I was set to leave on my first deployment. She followed me three weeks later and we were happy. It all seemed like one big exciting adventure…" He fell silent for a few seconds, thinking back.

"In a way that was all it was to both of us back then. We were so young, what did we know? We were just starting our life together, planning to raise a big family and Hayley was born only 11 months later."

Nikita opened her eyes when Michael fell silent for a second time. He was still looking down, maybe at his hands. One was clenching the other. She kept quiet and waited for him to continue.

"Lizzy's pregnancy went perfectly but she wanted to come back home to the States to have the baby. I didn't see why. The assignment I was on was going really well but was at a crucial point and if I did well that would mean a step up for me, I couldn't leave for weeks just to have the baby in the US. Lizzy didn't want to have the baby without me and so she stayed and had the baby in Saudi Arabia. Hayley came a little early, we weren't near the base when Lizzy went into labour. It all went so fast we didn't have the chance to get back in time. She had Hayley in a state hospital. Hayley was fine but Lizzy wasn't. She wouldn't stop bleeding and eventually they had to take her into surgery…"

Michael was still clenching his hands and Nikita heard him take a deep breath before continuing.

"The doctors saved her life, but she wouldn't be able to have another baby."

Michael drew in a shuddering breath and Nikita felt so very sorry for him, their dreams of a big family crushed. He obviously blamed himself, maybe Elizabeth had too, but she didn't feel right asking him about that just now. She wanted to reach out to him, offer him support, but wasn't sure he would want her to so she refrained from doing that too.

Michael continued, "Hayley was a model baby and Lizzy recovered quickly. The assignment came to a close and I got offered the post in Yemen. Lizzy hated it there. She would say she was fine, but something was different. She was a wonderful mom, focused all her energy on Hayley but at the same time she lost most of what was left of her sparkle. That's when I decided this should be the last overseas assignment. I would have my pick of bases if the assignment in Yemen would go well. We would be able to go anywhere in the world we wanted and I promised her it wouldn't be long. I promised myself that from then on she and Hayley would come first. Whatever they wanted, I would make sure they got it. I put in the down payment on the house in Hawaii after I came into contact with Kasim. Kasim and his connections seemed to be vital to success, the break I had been searching for…"

 _Oh Michael._ Nikita felt tears pricking her eyes, but didn't let them fall. Michael seemed to have trouble keeping his composure himself.

Nikita still didn't speak, he had told her about the house yesterday in Russia. There she had also learned about Percy visiting him in his hospital room and manipulating him into the ranks of Division, but she sensed there was more Michael wanted to tell her.

Michael had already wanted to be completely honest with Nikita standing in the snow in St Petersburg. To let her decide what she wanted to do. He'd started by telling her a bit about his life with his wife and daughter, about what he'd lost at the hands of Percy. And he'd told her the truth about intending to double cross her. At which point she'd walked away from him. He hadn't been ready to accept that choice though, for the simple reason that there was more to it than that, more he needed her to know.

He'd let Lizzy down. She had given him so much, sacrificed a lot for him, his career, his happiness and in the end she and their daughter had paid the ultimate price. He had let Nikita down too, many times. He was lucky she was still alive. He had been so blind, but not anymore. And so he'd come to her loft last night, wanting to tell her, but not knowing exactly how to. And then one thing led to another and he didn't want to lose her too if he hadn't already and now here they were and he still wasn't sure if he wouldn't lose her and he still hadn't told her everything yet either. She had been quiet throughout and he almost didn't dare look up for fear of what he would see in her eyes. When he did and saw tears shimmering in eyes full of compassion, he found the courage to go on.

"Without Lizzy and Hayley, I had nothing left to live for. I accepted the promise of revenge and the sense of purpose Percy offered through working for Division without thinking much about it. I didn't stop to consider the breakthrough Kasim presented in Yemen. Or the fact that Division was able to track down the most elusive terrorists in the world but not Kasim, for years on end. I did what was asked of me and didn't spend much time questioning things I should have questioned. And then when you came into Division I accepted and followed every order regarding you too. I never took the time to look beyond what I had been offered nine years ago. Avenging my family was the only thing left I could do for them, to honour them as I should have done much more when they were still alive."

Nikita inhaling sharply made him pause for a second. Her stomach clenched at the self recrimination in his words. However, before she could do much more than slightly shake her head at him, he went on.

"Right from the start I knew you were different. I had promised Elizabeth she was the only woman for me and then you came along and slowly but surely I was drawn to you more and more. There was something about you. I enjoyed teaching you too much, I looked forward to sparring with you too much, I worried about you too much and eventually I even tried to keep you out of missions that would be too grueling whenever possible. You intrigued me and as much as I tried to keep some distance between us I couldn't completely stay away. If a few days would pass without us running into each other in Division, I would make something up to make sure we would anyway. I felt conflicted and torn. I couldn't be with you but I also couldn't not see you. It got worse when Percy and Amanda started to suspect I had a different connection to you than just what was deemed appropriate for a mentor and his recruit or asset. They made sure we were alone in St Petersburg and I couldn't help but walk right into their scheme. You looked so beautiful and I wanted you so much. Wanted so much to know what it was like to feel something good again. And then we kissed… and it felt incredibly right and wrong at the same time. I couldn't deal with that. Acting upon my ever growing feelings for you felt like the ultimate betrayal to Elizabeth and Hayley, so when Percy brought up the extended cover…"

"You sent me away…", Nikita's voice was barely above a whisper as her gaze met his.

"I sent you away… ", he confirmed, guilt clouding his green eyes, "It seemed like the only choice I could make to protect you from Percy and Amanda and to stay true to the vow I had made to myself to honour my wife and daughter."

Nikita broke eye contact, "You hurt me."

"I know", he whispered, "I hurt us both."

There was so much she could say to this, but what difference would it make? It was done. He knew what had happened after, how she had dealt with her heartache, how she found comfort in another man's arms on the premise of solidifying her cover. She hadn't been in contact with him, hadn't known how he had been then, but he had known - through Division's surveillance, exactly what her life had been like, how she had let the lie she lived become truth.

"Not having you around was torture and relief at the same time. I missed you, but when you picked up your new life it made it easier for me to stay 'on mission'. I could focus again. Until… You left…After…"

Apparently Michael had trouble voicing what had happened with Daniel. Nikita didn't know what to think about that. Daniel was dead just like Elizabeth and Hayley. She had loved and lost him like he had loved and lost them.

"You were partly right last night when you said we let ourselves be fooled by Division. But most of that falls to me. And I didn't just let myself be fooled, I fooled myself too. I chose to. It made it easier somehow. And the stupidest thing about it, is that I know without a doubt neither Lizzy nor Hayley would have ever wanted me to become what I became. They would have wanted me to find happiness where I could, not to sacrifice who I was for something useless like hate and the need for revenge. I think Lizzy might have seriously hurt me if she'd been here to see. She'd have said something along the way of me being a disrespectful ass, throwing my life away too. She would have been justified", his voice broke on the last word.

"That's why you walked away?" She referred to Michael walking out on Kasim and his revenge, leaving her to deal with him. Michael needed no further clarification, he knew exactly what she meant.

"Yes."

"You dropped the gun at my feet." It sounded like it was meant to, an accusation.

Michael cringed, "I'm sorry Nikita, I'm sorry for almost everything."

Nikita sighed, "I know you are. And I'm sorry too. For getting up and leaving Division the way I did, for not trying harder, for Daniel… But that doesn't change the fact that even after you knew the truth, you left me. Yesterday, in a room with the man that killed your family, your gun dropped at not only my but his feet too. After you sent me on a near suicidal mission to find him for you. On threat of Alex's life." Michael flinched. "You risked a lot Michael."

Michael dropped his head, burying his face in his palms. What else could he possibly say? She was right, what he had done was unforgivable. He sat there trying to collect himself, debating whether he should leave on his own or wait for her to kick him out. Last night had been an error in judgement, they shouldn't have taken refuge in each others arms before they'd talked things out, maybe they shouldn't have fallen into bed with each other at all _,_ or so he thought now. They had definitely put the cart before the horse and now, now he knew what it felt like to love her and be loved by her only to have to lose that too. Before it had good and well started no less. He was an absolute idiot. She was more right than she knew. He had risked a lot, he had risked it all. For nothing yesterday had proven.

"I don't… I can't even… I…", his voice dropped. He had closed his eyes to everything except for what he had wanted to see. He wanted to tell her his eyes were open now and would stay that way, that he wouldn't ever let himself be overtaken like that again… Would never hurt her again. But he couldn't find the right words and so silence surrounded them once more.

Nikita watched him as he sat hunched over on the side of the bed. She was so tired suddenly. Tired of it all. She wasn't angry anymore, she'd already left her anger behind yesterday. She wanted to be sure he was aware of what he had done and why, but she didn't want him to keep suffering because of it. He had suffered enough. And more importantly, to move forward they needed to find common ground again, rebuild their foundation so to speak and go from there. So the question was how to get there. How to get past all the pain and regrets and back to the ease with which they had come together not once but two times last night and then this morning when just the slightest touch had brought peace and comfort for them both?

They should be together, they should have been together a long time ago, Nikita still thought. They were better together. Their bodies knew the truth of that even if their heads hadn't let them comply. Michael had told her he was drawn to her from the moment they met and for her it was the same. How many times had it felt like an almost gravitational pull forced them into each others proximity? It had seemed to happen again and again. But they had not been able to act on it, until last night.

The need to reach out and touch him as he sat there was suddenly overpowering. She couldn't bare to see him struggling alone anymore so she shifted on the bed until she was sitting behind him and tentatively touched her hand to his shoulder.

Michael had been preparing himself for a lot of things that would likely happen next, Nikita reaching out to him in a comforting manner wasn't foremost on his list at all. He couldn't contain a gasp as he felt the warmth of her hand through his shirt. It took him a moment or two to collect himself enough to speak, "Why?".

It sounded choked to Nikita even though he had lifted his head from his hands. He had yet to look at her. It was quite clear to her why he hadn't and what he'd meant with his one-worded question. In a low tone she answered him, "I'm glad you told me all this but I already forgave you for what happened Michael. I did that last night."

At that he turned a bit and finally did look up to her. His red rimmed eyes were filled with surprise. She didn't know what he had been imagining to warrant the surprised look, but she knew what the rest of his face portrayed. Grief. She knew what it looked like from painful firsthand experience and saw it clearly in his features. "Maybe it's time you forgave yourself too?", she continued softly, taking one of his hands in hers and squeezing it lightly while moving her other hand up to gently rub the stiff muscles in his neck. Michael seemed to break at that, his eyes pressing tightly closed and his face scrunching up again.

Feeling her own eyes getting wet in sympathy she pulled him to her, wanting to have him in her arms again, for her own sake as much as his. He let her guide his head to her chest and as she released his hand to do so, he wrapped his arms tightly around her slight waist. Providing comfort like a mother would a child, Nikita rested her cheek on top of his head and simply held him.


	4. Chapter 4

*4*

How long she sat there with Michael half lying in her lap half sitting on the bed, she didn't know. She did know she wouldn't let go of him, not until he was good and ready for her to. He couldn't be very comfortable with his back twisted round like it was, but he made no move to do something about it. Even though his breathing had slowed, his arms were still tightly wound around her and so she continued to sooth him. Her hands slowly and lightly stroking his hair and his back, she lifted her head to press her lips against the top of his head now and again, letting him take the time he needed to collect himself.

Eventually his grip on her eased and he lifted his head from her chest to look at her as he sat up a little straighter. He cupped her cheek and slowly brought his lips to hers, giving her time to pull back, just in case she wanted to. She didn't want to. Instead she closed the distance and kissed him tenderly once, twice before bringing her arms around him as she shifted closer. Framing her face with both his hands he looked at her with something akin to wonder and then he kissed her again.

When she smiled at him she took his breath away. Michael couldn't help the answering smile that pulled at the corners of his mouth, "I love you."

Like last night when she'd heard him say it the first time, happiness bubbled up inside her and at the same time their lips found each other in a kiss more passionate than the last. Who knew the effect three little words from him could have, they made everything pale in comparison. For Michael the look in her eyes as he told her the absolute truth of his heart did the same thing. He couldn't stop kissing her, he didn't want to ever stop, she felt so good.

Michael turned a bit and pulled her into his lap. One hand trailed a path over her clothed back, down her bottom and over her thigh and back up again while the other cupped the back of her head to hold her in their kiss. Tasting her mouth was no longer enough, "I want you", he confessed and nipped her lips before he kissed his way down her throat. Nikita swallowed a gasp and held him to her, her breath coming out in shallow puffs. _From zero to sixty in seconds_ , she marveled. But before she let herself be swept away completely in a haze of desire, she remembered. They hadn't talked about what would come next.

Michael's mouth descended further, his tongue tracing her collarbone before she felt him lowering one strap of her dress and tracing the neckline of it with his index finger. Making his way further down, open mouthed kisses and little teasing licks made the skin above her breast glisten and her nipples pucker up tight in anticipation. _Oh god._ He cupped her breast, pushing it up, weighing it in his hand as his mouth lavished attention to the top of it just above the fabric of her dress. "Michael," she called breathlessly, "Michael."

Her hands framed his face as his mouth ceased it's ministrations. He brought her lips to his again, kissing her deeply until she moaned. One hand gently massaging the breast it still held, his thumb teasing her clothed nipple while his other hand found the second strap of her dress and slowly moved it down her shoulder leaving goosebumps in its wake. The last of her coherent thoughts threatened to scatter to the winds as he overloaded her senses and she felt that familiar pang between her legs.

 _Oh god_ , another few seconds and she'd be putty in his hands, _no, no, not yet._ Regaining control of her voice she managed to get his attention, "Michael wait, I…"

Michael paused his attention to her breast and looked up at her, waiting for her to continue. She took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm the frantic beat of her heart. "I…"

Pushing a couple of stray strands of hair behind her ear, Michael waited for her to finish what she wanted to say. Nikita had trouble finding words, acutely aware of everywhere he touched her. Every caress he bestowed upon her a very pleasant distraction from what she wanted to say. "I… I… What are we going to do now?", she blurted finally.

Whether Michael purposely misunderstood her or not didn't really matter. He grinned that sexy grin of his and lifted his eyebrows at her, as if asking her if he really needed to tell her what they were doing next. Then he tilted his head and nipped her lips before catching her in a slow sensual kiss. Nikita couldn't suppress another moan when the hand that had only just been in her hair traced a slow but deliberate trail from her knee up her leg, taking the skirt of her dress with it. A gush of wetness threatened to soak her panties in response.

At this point it would be so easy to just let him have his wonderful way with her and worry about the rest later, after he'd satisfied the ache he'd so easily stirred in her. She wanted to, she wanted to so very much. She felt hot all over, her skin too tight and the pang she'd felt between her legs had blossomed into a full blown hunger, making the flesh between her legs tingle. But something inside told her not to surrender to their desires just yet. That she'd be sorry if she did. She managed to disengage herself from their kiss. Placing her fingers over his parted lips to create a little distance, Nikita rested her forehead against his. Trying to catch her breath anew, she squeezed her eyes shut. She felt Michael's fingers enclosing her wrist and twisting it just so to kiss her palm.

"What's wrong?", he sounded more than a little breathless himself.

Eyes still squeezed shut she managed to lightly shake her head.

His fingers loosened on her wrist to curl around hers. Next he brought their joined hands to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, "Tell me".

She wrapped her free arm around his shoulder, her hand coming to rest at his hairline. She shook her head slightly again, this time as if to clear it.

"You make me feel too much", she breathed. His mouth turned up in that grin again. As if on cue the butterflies in her stomach fluttered around madly. That devilish grin of his would be the death of her one day.

"Funny. You seem to be having the same effect on me", he told her in a hoarse whisper before nipping her bottom lip.

"Michael… I…", she took another deep breath and told herself to focus. "We should talk about what happens next." Silence met her. "Division", she clarified, "If we're doing this together, we need a plan."

For Michael the mentioning of Division had the effect of being doused by a bucket of ice water. _Talk first then_ , this was too important. Last night he'd found that she wasn't exactly sure of herself when it came to him, which he well understood given the circumstances and this morning she'd become tense after he had come back from his shower. They had agreed they would talk and they had, but clearly not about what had been foremost on her mind.

He really was a fool. He'd been so caught up in himself, in the past, he'd forgotten about the future. Against his expectations, Nikita had quite easily forgiven him for what had passed and told him to forgive himself too. In return he had failed to see what the real issue for her had been, he'd just lost himself in her. But she couldn't lose herself in him, at least not yet. Forgiving - just like declaring things will be different - was something else entirely than trusting. And up until now they hadn't really addressed that. Trust would take time. He might have been forgiven, but he still had a lot to make up for. In the meantime he would reassure her as often as necessary.

She needed to know she could trust him, that they really were in this together now. He wasn't going to let her and this wonderful thing they had between them slip through his fingers, he wouldn't risk it anymore, not for anything in the world. And she should know that without a doubt. He needed her to know that. There also needed to be a lot more space between them too for this conversation to happen in the way it should.

Nikita was looking at him with a mix of hope and doubtful expectancy plainly visible across her delicate features. "You're right, we need a plan", he told her, his voice a little more clear. He pulled up the straps of her dress, lightly kissed her and lifted her from his lap to the bed, sitting her next to him. He turned towards her, placing one leg on the bed, "What do you want to do?"

Nikita hugged her knees tightly, her knuckles turning white, before she answered him. She felt relieved that Michael had provided some much needed physical distance between them so they could talk without the distraction close contact caused and at the same time she felt a little insecure at how seemingly easy he had created said distance between them. She knew she was being silly, but still she just couldn't help it. This was Michael, how long had she wanted him, longed for him, waited for him…?

"We need to take the black boxes out of play, before we can take down Percy", she heard Michael saying, reaffirming what had already been decided yesterday, but effectively drawing her attention.

She nodded, "Yes. Locations and names of the guardians attached would help a lot…"

She fell silent again. Michael felt another stab of remorse for his initial plan to double cross her in Russia, but pushed it aside. He was pretty sure that was not why she brought it up. No, there was something she wasn't saying and he was also pretty sure about what that was. But she should tell him herself, so now to get her to do exactly that... "They would. I'll have to think about how to best procure them. Percy plays everything regarding the boxes extremely close to the vest. It's possible he'll be suspicious after yesterday too, when they find out about Kasim."

Nikita nodded, "When are you going back?"

Michael tilted his head at her, "I wasn't planning on going in any sooner than I have to. Why?" _Almost there._

Nikita shook her head, hesitantly asking, "What happens then?"

"What do you mean?", he deliberately acted as if he had no clue.

"To us."

Michael breathed an inaudible sigh of relief. _There it was._ A little faster than he expected, but that was good. It meant he wouldn't have to start from scratch again, earning her trust.

"Nikita", she didn't look at him. He reached out to her again, prying loose a few fingers from their death grip around her knees to hold between his and stroked her hair back from her downturned face. "Hey", he called again, his voice dropping to little more than a whisper, "Look at me." When she did he saw the plea in her eyes and sighed.

"I'm not walking away again, Nikita. And I don't want you to either. I'm not letting you go a second time." She nodded but didn't speak.

"We're going to figure this out, make this work. Just tell me what's on your mind. Okay?"

"Okay", she agreed and pushed the side of her face a little more into his hand. "I don't…", she hesitated slightly before biting the proverbial bullet and just told him in a rush. "I don't want you to go back to Division. I don't want it to be business as usual between us and not know if or when we'll see each other again. I don't want to just see you when I run into you on a mission like before or only when we have a meet up about finding and destroying the black boxes either. I want...", she took a much needed breath and continued. "Maybe we're finally getting on the same page, after all this time, after everything that's happened… I don't want you to be at risk any more than you have to be. It's bad enough worrying about Alex… I don't know how long she will be able to keep this up anymore. She needs to get out. She wants to get out. I should have never let her infiltrate…"

Tears came to her eyes again and he let her catch her breath. "It feels like too much sometimes. Sometimes I don't know what I was thinking when I started this… I …"

He frowned a bit at the onslaught of words that had left those lovely lips of hers and the furious blinking of her eyes as she tried not to cry. Nikita cursed herself for being so emotional all of a sudden, why couldn't she just take things as they would come when it came to Michael, like she did with everything else? Like she did before?

"You're forgetting you're not alone anymore", he interjected gently.

"But I am, Michael. You said it yourself in Tashkent, you're still Division and I'm not."

His thumb stroked tenderly over her fingers, "That doesn't mean we're not in this together." Michael tilted his head at her, making eye contact, "It doesn't mean there can't be any middle ground."

She lifted her head from where it still rested against his palm and raised her eyebrows at him in disbelief, "I'm thinking Percy might like to beg to differ seeing as how he made you personally responsible for killing me."

"I'm not really interested in what Percy wants, especially not when it comes to you or us…", he growled and Nikita cast down her eyes again. Michael sighed. In a quieter tone he continued, "I'm not saying we shouldn't be careful Nikita, because we should be, very careful. But being careful doesn't mean we can't be together at all. We'll just have to be smart about it."

"If they find out, they'll kill you", her voice betrayed her anguish at the thought.

Michael let out another sigh. "Come here", he asked her, his free hand beckoning her while he shifted his leg to make room. She went into his outstretched arm instantly, which curled around her waist providing much needed comfort.

Michael kissed the top of her head, "We risk our lives every day, remember? If I don't go back, it won't be long before they figure it out and start hunting us both. If I do go back, I can keep them away from you as much as possible and keep an eye on Alex at the same time", he squeezed her hand trying to reassure and convince her simultaneously, "Besides it will be easier finding out as much as possible about the black boxes from the inside than from the outside."

Nikita took a deep breath. She knew he was right and this was the only logical way to go, she just didn't like it. Apparently one shared night with the promise of more to come made all the difference…

"I'll play it by ear when I go in, avoid drawing unwanted attention. I laid the groundwork with Percy yesterday, now it's just a matter of waiting, and see when he'll come to me with his plans. I'll have to stick to my usual routine but we can still be together if we're careful and take the necessary precautions…"

"We're together now", he added after a few seconds, emphasising the here and now. "We can make this work."

Nikita turned her face up to his. "We can make this work", she agreed, sounding somewhat reassured if not more confident.

Michael released her fingers to stroke her hair back from her face once more, curling his hand around the back of her head, "We will." And then he tenderly touched his lips to hers for just a moment. Nikita let out a sigh and relaxed against him further, one arm tucked between them, the other releasing her knees and coming to rest against his chest.

"How much does Alex know?", Michael asked after a minute.

"Only what she needs to. That Division was responsible for the death of her parents. I found her strung out and abused, made her get clean. I trained her, taught her the most important things. She convinced me to let her be a recruit. I tried to prepare her for that as best as possible too. I told her she could trust you to watch out for her while she was a recruit. You do that for all of them."

"Some a little more than others." Nikita could hear the smile in his voice as he replied.

"Alex doesn't know that. I only told her the absolute necessities about you and me."

"Does she come here unannounced?", Michael asked. If so, this would be something they needed to keep in mind. Alex was a good agent and he didn't really want to find out how she'd react to finding him - the enemy, as far as she knew - here with Nikita out of the blue. It might gain him a few extra holes in his body...

"No, never", her voice trailed away a bit.

 _Good,_ he thought to himself, _that would be one less thing to worry about right now._ Alex would have to be clued in about him and Nikita soon enough, but for now Michael was happy to be able to have Nikita all to himself for just a little while. He kissed her hair, trailing his fingers through the length of it, "How do you two communicate?"

"Burners. Prepaid, no GPS. Like you taught me", she said, softer still.

He smiled at that, though Nikita didn't see as her head was currently tucked beneath his chin. _Good girl_. "We can do that too."

"I have an extra lying around, you can take that." Her voice sounded far away now. She was exhausted. It wasn't hard to imagine why. The rollercoaster ride the last few days had been, a double jet lag and their very pleasant but sleep depriving activities last night, their emotionally charged conversations today…

"Alright", Michael replied softly against her hair. He shifted a bit, his back coming to rest against the headboard and placed his other leg on the bed too. He lifted Nikita's legs over it, sitting her in the junction of his thighs. She nestled herself a little closer to him and his voice dropped to a gravelly whisper, repeating once again, "We'll make it work Nikita."

Her fingers tightened on his shirt in reply.

Content for now just to hold her, Michael settled in, breathing in the flowery scent of her hair and enjoying the feel of her slight weight against his chest.


	5. Chapter 5, Part 1

*5*

"I fell asleep."

Michael was pulled from his own drowsiness by Nikita's throaty voice. His arms full of her he kissed his answer against her temple, "You did."

"I'm sorry."

"Why? You needed it."

"You can't be comfortable like this", she said, referring to his shoulders pressed against the steel of the bed frame as she sat up straight, relieving his upper back of her added weight.

"I'm sure you'll make it up to me", he said lightly while stretching his back, working out a kink between his shoulder blades.

She laid her hand against his jaw and kissed him softly, the other coming up underneath his arm to travel along his side up his back to come to rest on one mildly abused shoulder. "Nikita…"

"I can't believe you're really here", she confessed.

He took her mouth in another lingering kiss, "I can't believe you didn't kick me out last night." They both grinned at each other, keeping things light.

"We're a fine pair", Nikita bantered.

"Hmm, we definitely are", he breathed against her lips and then he tickled her side causing her to squirm.

"Ticklish?", he smirked as his other hand joined the first, teasing her mercilessly and enjoying every second of it.

"Michael!", she grabbed his hands, trying to stop him unsuccessfully and dissolving into giggles. She tried to wriggle out of his grasp and when that didn't work either she went for a counter attack. As it turned out Michael was either not very ticklish himself or she didn't manage to find the right spot. He was laughing right along with her though, thoroughly amused by her attempts to tickle him while at the same time trying to escape his clever fingers.

They were having fun. Together. It had been a long time for both of them.

Since Nikita wasn't one to give up or back down from a fight - even if it was just a play fight, it didn't come as a surprise to Michael that she eventually did find his weak spot and exploited it fully. Her fingers traveled up his ribs until she felt him twitch ever so slightly. Nikita attacked with gusto and soon both of them were slightly out of breath and in danger of tumbling off the bed. Michael was the first to cease his tickling assault, lifting up his hands beside his head, "Give".

Nikita smiled victoriously and slid her arms around him, brushing his lips with hers. Michael's arms wrapped around her of their own accord and he rested his forehead against hers, unable to wipe the smile from his face at seeing the carefree and happy look on hers.

"What do I get for winning?", she asked him.

"I can think of a few things." Michael raised his eyebrows suggestively. He splayed his hands across her back, one moving down and one moving up, using both of them to bring her closer to him.

"And what would those be?", Nikita asked innocently, playing along. She trailed her fingers over his sides and up his chest, tantalising him with her featherlight caress.

In answer Michael touched his lips to hers, softly nipping at them before darting out his tongue, begging entrance. Nikita's hands came up to frame his face as she granted it, kissing him back with fervor. Her breath hitched in her chest and her heart skipped a beat as he explored her mouth at his leisure. _One thing was sure_ , Nikita thought as she tilted her head a little, doing a little more exploring herself, _the man could kiss. Boy, could he kiss_ , she could live on one of his kisses. She made a little noise in the back of her throat and felt Michael smile triumphantly against her lips.

"Something like this?" It took her a second to catch on to the fact that he was continuing their teasing conversation. She closed her eyes, smiling back, "Maybe. What else did you have in mind?"

"Quite a few things actually", his next kiss was full of promise, "But maybe we should eat first. Wouldn't want you to go hungry." Nikita raised an elegantly shaped eyebrow at his teasing remark, but decided he was right. They had the whole night and all of tomorrow to be together and there was more she wanted to share with him than just her bed.

"Let's go fix ourselves some dinner then", she said taking one of his hands and pulling him off the bed after her. Michael tugged at her hand and pulled her back to him, catching her in a sweet embrace and kissing her one last time before they went off in search for food, hands still locked together.

* * *

Later that night Michael and Nikita found themselves up on the roof of the loft. Bundled up in their coats, they sat atop a thick woolen blanket, another blanket covering them both to fight of the cold. Nikita sat between Michael's spread legs, one arm covering one of his resting over her stomach. They'd brought up the bottle of cabernet they'd opened during dinner and a couple of glasses to enjoy the rest of the wine underneath the stars.

Nikita took a sip from hers and sank a little further into Michael's warmth as she felt a pleasant drowsiness come over her. They'd prepared themselves a nice pasta, working side by side exchanging glances and the occasional lingering touch as if they had been doing this for years. Nikita had once again been somewhat amazed at how comfortably they fell into step with each other, just like she'd been that morning, only now it didn't fill her with that panicky feeling of insecurity anymore like it had then. Courtesy of their last conversation this afternoon.

She heard Michael's glass making contact with the concrete as he put it down. "Do you remember that little Italian place we ended up in after the Black Swan Op?", he asked her.

She turned her head a little to look at him, the corners of her mouth lifting in a reminiscent smile, "You mean the one with the furious cook?"

"Yeah."

"How could I not remember…? I'll never forget the look on your face when he started shouting at me for wanting to 'butcher' his menu. For a second I thought you were going to cause him grievous bodily harm."

"Oh, I was tempted…"

The Black Swan Op had been pretty straight forward. They were to investigate a prima ballerina suspected of extra curricular activities threatening national security. Because she was high profile, they had gone undercover and posed as newlywed patrons of the ballet. Straight forward as it may have seemed, nothing went smoothly on that Op, the ballerina turned out to be a Gogol asset and they'd had no choice but to neutralise her quick and dirty. Someone had then tipped off the police, so there hadn't been time for damage control. To top it all off, the media had been all over it in no time at all. So by the time Percy had been done chewing Michael out when he'd phoned in to inform him of the situation and Percy had not so kindly informed Michael to arrange for their own transportation back to Division as everyone was now too busy cleaning up after them, Michael had had steam coming out of his ears. His patience was tested further when it turned out all commercial flights had been delayed or cancelled because of a strike which left them with only one option: a twenty hour drive.

The first leg of their trip was mostly spent in silence. Michael had taken the driver's seat muttering about bad intel and hating the ballet and Nikita had thought it best to just leave him be. He'd calmed down at about the same time as they'd crossed state lines. When he broke the silence it was to ask her if she was hungry and that's how they ended up in a little restaurant on the outskirts of a big city. Apparently it was run by an Italian family who had never heard of or cared for vegetarian dishes because there weren't any on the menu.

Nikita had asked the waiter for an adapted version of a dish they did serve, whom in turn told her he would have to consult with the cook. Apparently the cook wasn't particularly charmed by her request and he'd let her know in no uncertain terms when he came to their table. Going on about not carefully putting together a recipe only to have it taken apart by 'yuppies', Nikita saw Michael's patience wearing dangerously thin and knew she had to do something if she wanted a chance at food that night. So she had downcast her eyes, blinking rapidly as if she was about to burst into tears and made up some bogus story about them being on their honeymoon, about actually wanting to spend it in Italy but having no money to cross the Atlantic. She had fiddled with the wedding ring still on her finger from the mission as she delivered her speech in a timid voice and when she looked up at the cook again, tears shimmering in her dark eyes, he had deflated right before her. "I will fix you something", he'd said, heavily accented and turned on his heel back into the kitchen. And he had, presenting her with the most delicious ravioli she had ever had and a complimentary bottle of chianti only fifteen minutes later.

"It's still the best ravioli I ever tasted", Nikita remembered, smiling.

"Hmm", Michael's mouth twisted into a something between a smile and a grimace as he thought back, "Befitting of your Oscar worthy performance for him. He spent the rest of the night trying to make it up to you."

Nikita laughed at that and took another sip of her wine. She kissed his jaw after she sat down her empty glass next to his, "You were jealous."

"He did a complete 180! First he was the epitome of rude yelling at you and then he tried flattering you in every which way to get in your good graces. A married woman's good graces."

Nikita laughed again, "I didn't hear you complain when he brought out that limoncello dessert."

Michael smirked involuntarily, "No, that was very good."

"Besides I wasn't Division's go to honey trap for any old reason", her voice trailed away.

Michael swallowed. They were having a nice time remembering, he didn't want Division's use or abuse of her to cast a shadow over it, "Or maybe he just saw a beautiful woman with light in her eyes and warmth in her voice and realised he'd been an absolute ass to her for no reason at all and wanted to try and make amends?" He replied softly, his words tickling her ear.

She turned her head and stared at him, losing herself in his gaze and then their lips met in a fleeting kiss.

"It was a good night", she said softly and then tucked her other arm beneath the blanket too, caressing the top of his hand that was drawing lazy circles on her clothed stomach.

"It was", Michael agreed, wrapping his other arm around her and nuzzling her hair.

They sat like that for a bit, both quietly thinking back on days gone by. Michael was first in breaking their silence. His breath was a whisper over her ear as he made sure she wasn't getting cold. She wasn't. Wrapped up in a blanket and his arms as she was, she thought she could have happily stayed there forever. Safe and warm. Their hands beneath the blanket engaged in an intricate dance, fingers sliding and stroking against each other. Nikita turned a bit in his embrace and tilted her face towards his for another kiss. He was only too happy to oblige.

Mouths nipping and tasting, their tongues dueling, while their hands caressed each other, made the heat between them flare up again instantly. Nikita twisted sideways a bit as Michael's other hand cupped her jaw, angling her face to deepen their kiss. Her free hand found it's way underneath Michael's coat. She pulled his shirt free from his trousers just enough to be able to slip her hand through the opening and touch bare skin. Michael sucked in a breath at the feeling of her nimble fingers stroking up his flank to trace the skin across his ribs and then dipping down to his waistband again, her short nails scratching him lightly when they hooked behind it.

Their hands ceased the stimulating dance they were in, Nikita's to curl around his neck, Michael's to unsuccessfully try and touch more of her through her down coat. He made a frustrated noise at not being able to touch her as he wanted to because of the thickness of the garment and Nikita broke their kiss slipping her hand from beneath his clothes. "Maybe we should continue this inside?", she suggested in a low tone.


	6. Chapter 5, Part 2

_"Maybe we should continue this inside?", Nikita suggested in a low tone._

* * *

A few moments later they had packed up the blankets, their now empty glasses and wine bottle and made their way downstairs. Unceremoniously dropping their load inside the first chance they had, Michael pulled down the zipper of her coat and reached for her again, hands disappearing inside the down garment on a sigh. They kissed their way down the stairs until they got into serious danger of tumbling down them. So Michael simply swept her up in his arms and carried her the rest of the way down, Nikita laughing softly as he did so.

Putting her back on her feet at the bottom of the stairs Michael pushed her coat off her shoulders. Nikita returned the favour, letting his coat fall to the floor next to hers. She grabbed his hands as her lips found his again and started to slowly walk backwards, leading him to the bed in the center of the loft.

He felt her smiling against his lips when she released his hands. Nikita captured his gaze as she seesawed the rest of his shirt from his pants and started working on the buttons. The look in his eyes could not be described as anything less than pure desire and her heart seemed to skip a beat at the heat he projected, her breasts rising and falling a little more rapidly as her breath sped up. Michael's eyes dropped to her lips and then they were kissing again. In her haste Nikita managed to accidentally immobilise his arms, capturing them in his shirtsleeves as she tried to rid him of his shirt a little clumsily. Freeing his hands from his cuffs himself, he felt her fingers stroking a featherlight path down his chest and over his stomach, the muscles she caressed bunching underneath her fingertips.

Keeping him in their kiss, his hands went up to her face while hers busied themselves with his belt. Pulling that free too, she made short work of the button and his zip, brushing his length through his boxer briefs. Michael sucked in a harsh breath and dropped his hands to her hips. Nikita pressed herself full length against him, cupped his face tenderly and nipped at his lips again, before descending. She gave a little bite to his jaw, soothed it with her tongue and then she was kissing her way down his neck. Hot, lingering kisses, sucking on his pulse point while her nails skirted over the taut skin of his back, careful not to leave any marks on him.

Michael's breathing became a little more ragged as she descended, touching and kissing every patch of skin she encountered on her way down. She grazed a nipple with her teeth and his hands tangled themselves in her hair. The tips of her fingers dipped into his waistband once more as she lowered herself to her knees. The feeling of her hot mouth on his abdomen, her fingers dipping further inside his pants combined with the sight of her skirt pooling around her on the floor as she went lower and lower, made him swell further, his blood thundering through his veins. But he didn't want her to do something she wasn't comfortable with, something that would remind her of anything that wasn't them right here in this moment. His voice was a gravelly whisper laced with desire but tinged with concern as he called to her, "Nikita".

"Shh", she scraped his skin with her teeth and soothed it with a kiss. She locked her gaze with his again, silently conveying he had nothing to worry about. She wanted this, she couldn't remember ever wanting to before, but now, with him, she did, wanted it more than anything. And then she was pushing down his pants and underwear in one move. Letting them fall around his ankles as her nails ran a straight line up the backs of his legs, caressing his buttocks before coming around and touching him where he needed her most. Her hand curled around him, fingers closing over soft, warm skin encasing steel. She kissed his abdomen one last time and then her mouth joined her hand. He had to close his eyes as her tongue followed a vein up his length. His breathing becoming even more erratic when he felt her mouth closing over the head. Her tongue swirling around it as her hand stroked a matching pattern, making him moan. _Oh god._

He wasn't going to last long like this, he knew that as soon as her lips closed over his heated flesh. He felt her other hand snaking up his thigh to cup his balls, massaging them gently. "Nikita", her name an invocation. She looked up at him through heavy lidded eyes, loving the power she had over him, the pleasure she gave him as she made love to him with her mouth and hands. His hands in her hair were soft, his thumbs stroking over her cheekbones as he tried to keep his hips from thrusting into her too much.

She gave him a hard suck and he groaned, his whole body shuddering. She felt an answering tug deep in her womb and then, somewhat unexpectedly, his hands left her hair to hook under her arms, pulling her up. "My turn", he growled and then he kissed her deeply, making her moan in return.

While he had been sorely tempted to let Nikita finish what she'd started and take him over the edge with her sinfully wicked mouth and hands, his desire to have her right next to him, in his arms, as they found ecstasy together, won out and so he had tapped into his last shred of control and brought her back to her feet.

He toed off his shoes and stepped out of his pants and underwear, pulling her closer to him. Unable to stop touching him, Nikita stroked her hands over tightly bunched muscles and taut skin, touching every curve and dip from his tight buttocks to his strong shoulders and then his arms around her. Their foreheads resting against each other, breaths mingling, his raspy voice washed over her, giving her goose bumps from head to toe, "You seem to be overdressed for the occasion". And then she felt his fingers sliding down her back, opening the zipper of her dress as he dipped his head to kiss the freckles sprinkled on her chest and over her shoulder.

Michael turned her in his arms, moving her hair over one shoulder to kiss his way up her neck while at the same time dragging the shoulder straps of her dress down her arms, letting the bodice pool around her waist. Bunching it there in one hand, he prevented the fabric from sliding the rest of the way down her body. The feeling of the cool air of the loft on the bared skin of her belly and breasts heightened her senses further and she took in an unsteady breath. Michael smiled as he nipped on her earlobe. He wanted to make this last, unwrap her like a gift and enjoy her to the fullest. To drive her mad with anticipation as she'd nearly driven him scant minutes ago.

Gathering her close, her supple back to his rigid chest, he purposely ignored his heavy erection pressing against her bottom. Tracing the shell of her ear with his tongue he felt her breathing become a little more unstable. Her upturned breasts rose and fell a little more rapidly with each breath, smooth olive skin glowing golden in the soft lamp light. From the corner of his eye, he caught their reflection in her vanity mirror. His own breath caught in his throat as he took in the picture they made. Nikita's face turned into his neck, her lips slightly parted in anticipation as his left hand stroked slowly up her stomach to cup her right breast, thumb and forefinger closing over a tightly beaded nipple, her own hand coming up to splay over his forearm as he touched her. "Michael", she sighed, her warm breath a teasing caress on his skin.

"You're so beautiful", he whispered, lips grazing the side of her face. She made a small sound, muffled against his neck as she kissed him there. His fingers playing over her breast, his strong arms a comforting warmth around her, he entreated her, "Look". She followed his gaze until she saw what he saw and was mesmerised, rendered speechless as the most erotic picture with herself in the lead presented itself to her.

Looking upon herself and Michael, she stared in unabashed amazement. In his arms like this she felt truly beautiful, looking like she did with the top of her dress bunched around her hips, one breast hidden underneath a sheet of long dark hair and the other covered by Michael's hand as he surrounded her in a lascivious embrace. The subtle contrast between their skin tones and the look in green eyes evenly matched by the wanton look in brown ones only added to the magic. Michael tightened his hold on her breast the tiniest bit, pinching her nipple between his fingers as he briefly took the rim of her ear between his teeth and sucked on the fleshy part. Pure lust swirled low in her belly at the vision before her combined with the feel of his powerful body against hers while he leisurely caressed her breast, sending shivers up her spine.

Nikita turned her face to his to catch him in a deep and sensual kiss. She tried turning in his arms, wanting to touch him as he touched her, but he kept her in place, "Let me". Something in his request, the tone of his voice, made her still and give herself up to him. She released a shuddering breath as his lips grazed the corner of her mouth and then traced a path along her jaw. Michael softly nipped her earlobe before descending down the side of her neck, gently biting down on her trapezius muscle and then soothing the sting as he sucked on her skin. Nikita moaned and pressed herself further into his warmth, one hand tightening on his arm as the other splayed over his thigh, her fingertips pressing into his skin as she tried to get him even closer to her. Michael squeezed her to him a little more in answer.

She could crawl into him, burrow under his skin and it still wouldn't be close enough, she wanted him so much. Her mouth opened but no sound would come out, her chest was heaving and she had to close her eyes as his hands released her breast and the fabric of her dress, to slide achingly slow across her stomach to her flanks, framing her slight waist.

Nikita's dress glided down her hips in a cloud of dark blue and puddled at her feet, leaving her standing in just a lilac scrap of silk as Michael put her slightly away from him to kiss a path down her spine. He turned her around then, pressing his lips to her skin just below her navel. Gazing down upon him on his knees before her, her breath caught in her throat and another shiver ran through her. The position he was in, the way he looked at her, the almost reverent way he touched her... It all was somewhat akin to worship and made Nikita feel as if she were the most precious thing in the world to him.

She couldn't tear her eyes away from him, nor did she want to. He was absolutely beautiful and she was once again overwhelmed at all the emotions he roused in her. One of her hands disappeared in his hair while she traced the fleur-de-lis on his upper arm with the other. The ink suited him so well, representative of his southern heritage and symbol for strength, valor and quite a few other things befitting him. _And he was all hers now._ That thought alone was enough to set her heart aflutter and spark tingles low in her belly.

He must have picked up on her shiver because his arms circled around her hips and he asked her in that dark and husky tone of his, lips whispering over the sensitive skin just above her panties, "Cold?".

 _God, everything about the man exuded pure sex._ She shook her head slightly, her fingers tangling further in his hair, tilting his head backwards. She couldn't imagine ever being cold again when he was near.

"Kiss me", a whispered request from her this time, a wish for him to come face to face with her again. A wish he only partially granted. His lips curving into his trademark grin, he dipped his head to press his lips against her silk clad center. Nikita smiled at that, biting back a laugh, _such a tease._

"Not quite what I meant", she told him hoarsely as their gazes locked. Michael raised an eyebrow at her, a twinkle in his eyes as the tips of his fingers hooked behind the lacy edge of her panties. And then he made her bite her lower lip when he blew a warm breath over her newly bared heated flesh as he dragged the flimsy bit of silk past her hips, caressing the length of her legs on his way down.

"Not good?", he asked her just before touching his lips to the same - now bare, spot again. Nikita sucked in a sharp breath as his tongue darted out to snake between her folds and tease the bundle of nerves hidden there.

"Oh", Nikita felt her knees buckle and gripped his shoulder to steady herself. At the same time Michael slanted an arm around her hips to hold her up while his free hand travelled up the inside of her thigh, his fingers deftly parting her and joining his mouth in its tantalising caress of her warm, wet flesh. Nikita moaned loudly at the double assault on her quivering center and only just managed an answer, "Too good... I don't…".

She felt rather than saw, his lips curve up in a smile. "Turnabout's fair play, sweetheart", he grumbled against her and kissed her intimately again, the tips of two fingers entering her slightly only to pull back again. Not quite giving her what she wanted but effectively stoking her desire to a boiling point. His mouth and fingers worked in tandem, caressing her bud and gently massaging her swollen folds and entrance, slowly driving her crazy. Driving himself crazy. He was throbbing by now, thinking he might be risking permanent damage soon, but he ignored his own aching flesh in favour of another taste of hers. She was sweet and so very deliciously wet, and from the very first taste of her he'd known without a doubt he was addicted. Addicted to her taste and smell, to the way she responded to him, the sounds she made and the way her body reacted to his questing mouth and fingers. He would crave her now. One taste would never be enough.

He flicked his tongue against her, lapping up her juices, before sucking her bud between his lips. A little mewling sound escaped her, her other hand leaving his hair to grip his other shoulder to keep from falling as her legs wobbled further. "Michael please... I can't…", she gasped, her short nails biting into his skin as she struggled to remain upright. He tightened his arm around her as he took mercy on her, delivering a last, quick kiss to the center of her desire before he got back to his feet while scooping her up in his arms in one smooth motion.

Nikita wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers burying themselves in his hair again as she brought his face to hers. She kissed him on a sigh, tasting herself on his lips. Their kiss deepened as she felt her back coming into contact with the bed and Michael's arms releasing her to place himself over her, one of his hands tracing a path from her leg to her breast, the other tangling in her long dark tresses.

The feeling of finally being skin against skin from head to toe set Nikita's nerve endings on fire. She slid a leg along his in a gentle but insistent caress, trying to touch as much of him as possible while her hands held him in their all consuming kiss. His hard length a warm and heavy weight against the inside of her thigh, their bodies pressed closely together, Nikita broke their kiss. She had to have him, now. "No more playing", her throaty voice was more than a bit unsteady.

Michael smiled that gorgeous devilish half smile at her again, nipped her lips and rested his forehead against hers, "Tell me what you want." His own voice no steadier than hers as he tried to control his breathing.

She bit her lower lip before sucking in a deep breath and whispering over his lips, "You. Inside me. Now."

He didn't need to be told twice. Capturing her lips in a bruising kiss, his hand left her breast to grasp her leg. Bending it up and outwards, the back of her knee resting over the inside of his arm, he spread her to him further. Adjusting his hips a little bit, he tortured himself and her one last time by sliding his pulsing flesh across her wet folds before positioning himself at her entrance. And then he was pushing into her, in one slow but steady and demanding thrust. They had to break their kiss at the overwhelming intensity of feelings their union provoked.

"Oh god", Nikita couldn't help but exclaim, her hands traveling over his shoulders, her toes curling. Michael buried his face in her neck, moaning as he steadily pushed into her ever deeper. And then he felt that telltale flutter of her muscles contracting around him as she arched her back and moaned. _Wow._ He lifted his head to look at her in wonder as she came, pushing the tiniest bit further into her as her world shattered into ecstasy.

Struggling to hold off his own release and take her just a little bit higher, he bent his head to her breast, sucking the whole of her dusky peak into his mouth, letting his teeth scrape her tender skin. Nikita let out another sound of pleasure and it took Michael all of his willpower not to start moving inside her again and chase his own release. She was so warm and wet, and tight, and she held him so perfectly.

His mouth left her breast as her tremors started to fade and he kissed his way upwards, lingering on her collarbone and shoulder. He released her leg to let his hand travel up her torso, joining the other when it came to rest in her hair. She shuddered deliciously as his lips reached the shell of her ear, confessing to her in a heated whisper, "You feel so good".

Bringing her own hands up to his face, she guided his mouth back to hers and caught him in a short, hungry kiss. Their gazes locking, she told him in a breathy voice, "Don't wait".

He looked at her for the longest while, searching her eyes while his fingers traced her eyebrow and cheekbone. She wrapped her legs around him in encouragement feet locking below his bottom and told him from the depth of her soul, "I love you".

He closed his eyes and blindly found her lips once more, kissing her tenderly while the fire raging inside of him threatened to consume them both. But still he didn't move. How utterly overwhelmingly good it felt to hear these words from her, he couldn't have guessed. Neither could he have anticipated his apparent unconscious need to actually have her say them. It meant more to him than he would have thought possible and it rendered him immobile and absolutely speechless, mesmerised by the beauty - both inside and out - of his new found lover.

One hand caressing his face, she stroked the other down his back and over his buttock, lightly scratching his skin as she traced along the tight curve. He swelled even further inside of her and in answer felt her clench around him. "Please Michael", she entreated and then kissed him again. She felt him grasping her hip and then slowly, he pulled halfway out of her, rotating his pelvis to thrust back into her roughly. Nikita broke their kiss to moan, "Oh yes".

And thus their dance began anew. Advance and retreat. Michael still fighting for control, building upon the smoldering embers of her release to take her with him when he would finally allow himself to fall over the edge. Telling her again how good she felt, how beautiful she was, how he loved her too. His body straining to hold on a little longer as he pushed her higher and higher.

Nikita twisted her hips to take him even deeper into her body, relishing the feeling of his hard flesh stroking her in just the way she needed, their sweat slick bodies rubbing against each other, making her blood slosh thickly through her veins. An undeniable tingle started deep in her womb, making her shudder as Michael sped up his thrusts. Their mouths connected in a series of searing little kisses as hands grabbed at hot flesh, trying to get ever closer. And then Michael couldn't deny himself the bliss of release anymore, his body stiffening as he thrust into her hard one last time, emptying himself into her, filling her to the brim. His release triggered her own and as her limbs tightened around him, she too lost herself to the storm.


	7. Chapter 6

*6*

Michael was still breathing heavily into her neck quite a few minutes later while Nikita's heart rate was slowing down again. She stroked his hair and back soothingly, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she kissed the top of his head. Her legs had stopped twitching and had relaxed their grip on his lower body to come to rest on the bed again. Still not getting enough of touching him wherever she could, she trailed the instep of her foot up one of his well defined calves. She rubbed her cheek against his forehead in a catlike gesture before kissing his hair, deeply inhaling his scent as she pressed her lips to his head.

Basking in her loving embrace, Michael eventually caught his breath and lifted his head to look at her. She was radiant and he felt somewhat smug and incredibly humbled by that fact at the same time. He framed her face between his palms and touched his lips to hers, "That was -"

"- Pretty damn amazing", she finished his sentence, grinning from ear to ear. Her grin turned out to be contagious, "Yeah", he breathed over her lips and then caught her in another kiss, thoroughly exploring her mouth once again but breaking it off before it could escalate into something more. Michael couldn't not kiss her though. So he kissed his way over her eyes, her nose, the corner of her mouth, her jaw. Making Nikita sigh in contentment while her fingers travelled the length of his spine and charted the muscles in his shoulder and arm. They lay like that for a while, touching and kissing each other over and over. Content to be in each other's arms and enjoying the afterglow of their love making.

Michael thanked his lucky stars again to be here with Nikita like they were. Amazed at being wrapped up in her arms only shortly after everything she'd been through at his hands. To hear her say 'I love you'. He could never put into words what that meant to him, what she meant to him. He gazed at her in wonder in between kisses and caresses. Trying, like last night, to put into touch what he couldn't put into words. Eventually Michael turned them both on their sides, manoeuvering the sheets in such a way to cover them both. Their bodies had separated again and Nikita wrapped a leg over his, tangling their legs effectively. Stroking a strand of hair behind her ear he told her, "Thank you."

"For what?"

He took her hand to intertwine their fingers and brought it up to his mouth to kiss. "For today. For yesterday", he whispered, "For being you." He pressed his lips to her fingers again and downcast his gaze. Nikita had to strain to hear him add, "For still having me."

 _Oh Michael_ , tears pricked her eyes again. With her free hand she brought up his chin and their eyes met. He was frowning a little. "You're very welcome", she said in a low voice and touched her lips to his. She smiled at him, her free hand lovingly caressing his face, but the frown didn't leave his features completely and he broke eye contact again. She tilted his face up once more. Her voice a soothing caress, she repeated what she'd told him this afternoon, "Forgive yourself hon, it's time."

His breath shuddered from him as she kissed him lightly once more, punctuating her words. His voice was somewhat fragile as he replied, "It's hard."

Her heart broke for him as he closed his eyes. "I know", she said, understanding all too well, then added, "Try."

Michael nodded once, eyes still pressed closed and buried his face against her neck again, one arm wrapping around her tightly. Nikita let him draw comfort from her, happy to give it to him and squeezed his hand, hugging him close with the other. Her fingers drawing soothing circles on his back.

She suspected he might fall asleep like this and was totally fine with that. But then he moved away from her a bit to be able to look at her and took her lips in another slow and sweet kiss.

Nikita was right, he knew that even if he couldn't quite acquit himself of his sins as generously as she did. What he could do was not drown in the misery that came with the reflection upon said sins and try and live more in the moment. For her. She deserved better, deserved to be carefree, at least as much as possible with their lives being what they were, but especially in the aftermath of their wonderful love making. So he made the effort and tried to engage her in lighter conversation.

His sadness seemingly dissipated for now, Michael asked her, "What do you want to do tomorrow?".

Trying to lift the seriousness of moments before even further, she answered him, "Stay in bed all day?" A coy smile graced her luscious lips as she tightened her leg around his.

Michael appreciated her catching on to his attempt at lightheartedness and joining him in it more than he could say and did his best to not weigh it down again even as a potential practical problem started to weigh on his mind. He kissed the smile from her lips and replied, "Tempting".

Nikita easily picked up on the fact that there was something he wasn't saying. She wasn't having that. He should know he could tell her anything, anytime, big or small. So she prompted him, "But?"

"I didn't bring an extra set of clothes…"

 _Right_ , she thought, _that didn't quite clarify anything yet_. "You won't need them if we're spending the day in bed…", her voice was low as she batted her eyelashes while she traced her fingers through his hair.

He smiled at her flirty demeanor and couldn't resist stealing another kiss. "No, but I will when I have to go in early the next day".

Nikita tilted her head at him, leaning back in his embrace to create a little distance and he clearly saw the doubt returning to her eyes as she spoke, all flirtyness gone from her voice, "You want to leave-"

Now it was his turn to interrupt her before her thoughts would run away with her, "-Nikita, no". He brought her closer to him, touching his nose to hers he spoke in a low voice, "I want to stay. As long as possible. But if I don't want to leave well before the crack of dawn day after tomorrow, I'm going to need to at least pick up some clean clothes. I didn't really come prepared yesterday…" He smiled ruefully at her and the clouds lifted from her eyes.

"Oh", she said simply, "Okay".

"Okay?", Michael asked, smiling at her encouragingly and making sure they were on the same page again.

"Yeah", she whispered. "Maybe you should bring an extra set. In case you decide to drop by unexpectedly again?", her coyness returning.

He kissed her hard at that, leaving no room for doubt in her mind. "Maybe I should", he flirted right back and kissed her again, slow and sweet this time.

Reassured she said, "And maybe you should bring some sweats too. Then we can spar if we want to, like before".

Michael smiled, "Hmm". She felt the rumble of his voice through his chest against hers and delighted in it. "You want to get sweaty with me?", his tone suggestive.

"Always", she replied huskily.

One corner of his mouth twisting up further, he gathered her closer still, letting her feel the effect of her teasing words. Lips pressing against her jaw, he mumbled, "Bad girl."

She smirked and trailed her hand over his bottom, squeezing lightly, "You love it."

"Hmm." She was right, he did love it. He loved everything about her. From the way she could take down an entire floor of well trained recruits and heavily armored Division guards to the way she disarmed him with a few well chosen words, a slight touch or even a glance from those beautiful brown orbs of hers.

They had always walked the fine line between acceptable and not according to Division's code of conduct, trying not to cross it too obviously and desperately failing more often than not, especially in front of those who knew either or both of them and actually cared enough to notice. It had never escalated to more than teasing remarks and lingering looks, though it had easily could, save of course for that one kiss in Russia.

All the while both of them had realised they were playing with fire, though Michael suspected he'd been a little more aware of what that entailed than she'd been. Or maybe he'd just cared about it more. Nikita was a natural flirt and a very tactile one at that, so being close to another person in some way or another was just what she did. And of course, Nikita didn't like to play by anyone's rules but her own.

From nearly the moment he'd met her, Nikita had been like a breath of fresh air to him, she was the only one who came close to making him forget his heavy burden for a little while by just being who she was and demanding his full attention with just a teasing word, a smile or a touch. And for the longest time he had craved those little moments between them. They had made him feel alive again.

So yes, she was absolutely right when she said he loved her subtle and sometimes not so subtle naughty playfulness. She had resurrected a side of him he thought he'd buried along with his wife and daughter. But most of all he was grateful to have her in his life again after three long years of missing her, and to now even have her in his arms in her tiny bed, all to himself - finally - and so accepting of all his flaws, it meant the world to him. He wouldn't give that up for anything. He nuzzled her hair and then kissed her cheek, feeling her hand come up to bury itself in his hair again.

She turned her face to his, running her fingers softly through his hair, her lips tickled against his ear as she pulled him from his thoughts, "So what's the plan for tomorrow then?"

"Stay in bed all day except for the time it will take to go and pick up some clothes?", Michael questioned semi seriously. Nikita let out a short laugh, "Good plan". She pulled her head back to see the beginnings of a smirk on his face and kissed him lightly, not able to keep from smiling herself.

They cuddled and kissed until Michael started to fade, post coital drowsiness catching up to him fast. Nikita shifted a bit to tuck his head underneath her chin, the already familiar feeling of his stubble lightly scraping the sensitive skin above her breasts making her smile again. She cupped his jaw in her hand, her thumb caressing his cheek once and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. "Sleep well", she whispered lovingly.

Michael tangled their legs further and wrapped his arm around her a little tighter. His reply to her no more than a low affirmative "Hmm" against her skin as he pressed his lips over her heart, kissing her there.

Nikita felt his breathing evening out and becoming deeper as she ran her fingers through his hair and stroked the top of his spine repeatedly. She savoured the feeling of him in her arms, so open and trusting of her to let himself be lulled to sleep by her soothing caresses for the second night in a row. As for herself, she found there was a striking difference in the sense of security she felt now compared to little more than a day ago, compared to this morning even.

Michael had opened up to her completely, sharing with her what his life with Liz and their daughter had been like, why he'd chosen Division, the conflicting emotions he'd experienced when she herself had entered the equation and then again when she left. He'd done so without knowing how she would react to his candor. He obviously hadn't thought it would work out well for them, but he'd chosen to be truthful nonetheless. For which she was very grateful as it showed her how very serious he was about her and them being together.

Afterwards he had been so relieved when she had told him she'd already forgiven him and offered him the comfort he so desperately needed, that she had almost forgotten that there was something else she also needed before she could let things progress any further between them. And he had offered that just as freely and patiently, validating the sense of safety she felt with him. _How far they had come in such an incredibly short period of time,_ she marveled as the contentedness she felt blossomed to out and out happiness.

Sure, they still had a long way to go. Michael would not just stop deeply regretting everything that had happened just as much as she would need more time to trust him implicitly on some levels. But looking back upon the last day or so, Nikita also knew that what she felt, what they felt, was real - however fast things seemed to be progressing between them - and that they could make it. Together. She kissed the top of his head again and let herself join him in sleep, a smile still etched on her face.


	8. Chapter 7

*7*

The next day Nikita found herself alone, sitting in one of the comfy chairs of the loft, her legs pulled up underneath her, sipping a cup of tea. Michael had left just a little while ago and for some reason the loft already felt empty without him there. They weren't even together for two days and already he'd wormed his way under her skin so far that she missed him when he had only just left. _This could turn into a thing._ Something she could ill afford, she realised and something she would have to get over really fast given the circumstances of their lives.

The only comfort she had was that she was fairly certain Michael felt the same way, seeing as he had been pretty reluctant to leave her even if it was only for the short amount of time it would take him to pick up some essentials. He had seemed unable or at least very unwilling to leave her side, kissing her repeatedly and hugging her close before finally leaving. She hadn't known if this very welcome display of affection had been for her benefit or his, but she strongly suspected it to be a little of both.

Nikita had pondered the thought a little last night and came to the same conclusion this morning: taking things slow wasn't really for them. Or maybe it was just because so many years of pent up longing had made them feel like they had wasted enough time already. And that was without factoring in that they could not seem to get enough of each other.

A smile tugged at her lips when she thought back on how they had spent their morning so far. She had woken up with Michael wrapped securely around her. Somewhere during the night she must have turned over in his embrace because her back had been pressed to his chest with his arm a comforting weight around her. She'd been called from slumber by his fingers stroking a soft pattern against her stomach and the underside of her breast, while his hard, hot length was poking into her buttocks insistently. He had definitely been 'up' for a while. Smiling to herself she had covered his hand with her own and brought it up further to cup her breast. He'd gifted her with a moist, lingering kiss to the junction of her shoulder and neck, a ripple of warmth spreading through her. She had turned her head then, just enough to catch his lips with her own greeting him with a very warm and deeply sensual good morning kiss.

Michael had taken full advantage of her mouth against his by exploring hers thoroughly and caressing her tongue with his at his leisure while his hand kneaded her breast and teased her nipple into a hard point. Her breathing becoming ragged as his ministrations summoned the hunger in her. His touch had made every nerve ending come alive with need, desire coiling tight in her belly. She was more than ready for him in no time at all, so she had wiggled her bottom against him in invitation. Michael had groaned and released her from their kiss, pressing himself into her curves a little more, making Nikita breathe a bit faster in anticipation.

He had kissed her cheek as he pushed himself up slightly on one arm, gathering her hair behind her. Tenderly stroking the length of her arm before clasping her hand and pulling her back flush against his chest again, he had encouraged her to place her head back on their shared pillow by pressing his lips to her temple in a gentle kiss. Nikita's breath hitching in her throat, she had caught his hand in hers and wordlessly told him what she wanted by guiding it down to just above where she ached for him to touch her.

Michael had kissed her shoulder again and dipped his fingers between her legs, finding her warm and wet. He'd stroked her teasingly a few times, before she had pushed her bottom against him again and Michael got the not so subtle hint. She hadn't wanted him to draw this out any longer, she just wanted him. Positioning himself behind her, he'd quickly parted her and joined their bodies in a powerful thrust.

Nikita had gasped out a moan and arched her back at the feel of him stretching her so deliciously tight, pressing her bottom further into his pelvis while her toes curled and her hands grasped the sheets tightly. The submissive position she was in only adding to the very pleasurable sensation of having him inside of her again. Michael had held still for just a bit, letting her adjust. Stroking her back and shoulders before capturing her hand again and folding both their arms against her chest as he kissed her neck just below her hairline. Nikita's breath had shuddered out of her then, the feeling of him being in total control of their early morning love making, arousing her even further and she had sighed when he'd finally begun to move. Slowly rocking them both into heavenly oblivion.

His hand had released hers in favour of cupping her breast again, teasing her nipple into almost painful sharpness before he treated the other one to the same erotic torture. Eventually he left that one too to massage her belly and stroke her hip and upper leg, spreading her a bit more and changing the angle of his shallow thrusts, while he kissed her neck and shoulder repeatedly.

Though she could have easily moved and taken a more active role, Nikita had been more than content to let her body be manipulated by Michael as he pleased. She had happily surrendered herself to him, giving him complete control and receiving nothing but pleasure and devotion in return.

She remembered closing her eyes when his fingers had dipped between her legs again, letting out a gasp as he touched her where their bodies were joined. A few fast and clever strokes had her contracting around him in sweet release and not long after she had felt his teeth closing gently over a tender spot at the junction of her neck and shoulder when he reached his own, making her shudder heavily before his arm had come around her again, their fingers intertwining as he hugged her to him tightly.

When the aftershocks had died down, he had grasped her hip and carefully disengaged their bodies as he slowly pulled out of her. The sensation had made Nikita bite her bottom lip and close her eyes tighter while she suppressed another moan. Michael had turned her around slightly and kissed her gently, freeing her lip from her teeth as his tongue softly stroked over it. Nipping her bottom lip once, they had spoken their first words of the day. Michael's "Good morning", had made Nikita open her eyes with a smile and sassily reply, "Hmm, a very good morning. I think I should patent you as an alarm clock. I'd get filthy rich."

Michael had laughed at her then while he'd gathered her in his arms for another demanding kiss filled with barely satisfied lust as she'd pushed one long leg in between his. "You're crazy", he'd said with a smile, to which she had replied with, "Only for you babe." And then they had kissed some more and rekindled the smouldering remnants of their previous love making into a fiery passion again as their hands roamed, touched and kneaded warm skin over hot flesh. At Nikita's initiative they had taken their second tryst of the day into the shower, where the pounding of warm water against their skin had only added to their seemingly endless desire for each other.

As she thought back, Nikita was filled with a warm tingly feeling throughout her body, her toes still curling at just the memory of their activities this morning. After they'd dragged themselves out of the shower - fingers pruned and lust at least temporarily satisfied, they'd prepared themselves a belated breakfast. They'd sat shoulder to shoulder in companionable silence sipping coffee - two mugs, one with soy milk, one black - and eating their veggie omelette - one plate, two forks.

"I'm very glad you decided to come here", Nikita had admitted again to Michael in a soft voice, lightly bumping his shoulder with hers and breaking the silence after some time. It was clear to Michael that she meant him dropping in on her for the second time, the night before last.

"So am I", silence had fallen for a few long seconds, before he added, "I was worried how you'd react…"

She had turned her face to catch his eyes, "I was worried about you."

He'd raised an eyebrow and said in a wry tone, "I thought you might shoot me again."

Nikita's mouth had turned up in an ironic little smile. "I had some time to think", she'd stated matter of factly and Michael had just raised his eyebrow again, waiting for her to elaborate.

"I had a long way to drive getting back from the airport... I was angry at first and sad, but…". She sighed, remembering what she'd told him next. "I know why Michael, I wasn't very happy with it, but I knew why. What I didn't know, was what you had done after I left. I thought that maybe…", and then she had cut herself off, not wanting to focus on everything that had been going through her mind back then because it just wasn't important anymore. "I was worried", she had repeated simply and they'd left it at that. Michael had seemed to grasp what she hadn't said and had simply put an arm around her to pull her into his side, pressing a kiss to her temple.

They had finished their breakfast while he suggested running home right after. To get it out of the way, so to speak. She was fine with that and after a drawn out goodbye she'd entertained herself by clearing the dishes, gathering up the blankets and glasses from their outing on the roof last night and making the bed. That done she'd made herself a cup of tea and now here she was, curled up in a chair, waiting for him to return.

She'd been scared yesterday morning of how fast things were progressing between them, her feelings for him growing exponentially with every kiss and every touch they shared, but as she'd discovered last night, she wasn't disconcerted by them anymore. She hadn't turned into a naive little lovesick teenager either, but she had decided that when it came to her and Michael she would live in the moment. Their lives didn't permit any real longtime planning anyhow and above all she was perfectly content to stay in the little bubble they had created for themselves right here in her loft until Michael would have to go back to Division again and the reality of their situation would catch up to them once more.

She finished her tea and rested her head against the back of the chair, closing her eyes to daydream a little more. And that's how Michael found her thirty minutes later. He stepped into the loft soundlessly, leaving his bags at the bottom of the stairs and walking straight to her. He knelt in front of her, stroking her hair over her shoulder and kissing her cheek, "You're not sleeping are you?"

The little smile that graced her lips widened and she turned her head and kissed him back softly. "No", she lied and judging by the way he looked at her with barely contained amusement he knew it too.

"I might have dosed off a little bit.''

He let out a short laugh and she loved the sound of it. In all her time in Division she had heard him laugh so little she could easily count the times when he had on one hand and they were all directly connected to her tempting him into playfulness. He was always so serious, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and she wondered if that was who he was or who he had become. It was worth thinking about some more.

But not just now, she found as he took her by the hand and pulled her from her chair, "Come on sleepyhead, I brought you back something."

He had hurried his trip back home along as much as he could. Changing his clothes for jeans and a long sleeved tee, he had stuffed some other essentials in an overnight bag and stuck a clean suit in a separate garment bag to prevent it from wrinkling. He thought he might have set a record and was feeling pretty good about that fact since he didn't want to be away from Nikita any longer than absolutely necessary, but when he'd passed the deli which he remembered having her favourite apple pie as he took an alternative route back to the loft, he had to stop and get her some.

Tugging her behind him to where he'd left his bags, Michael heard her laugh at his antics. A laugh that died in her throat as she spotted the paper bag with the deli logo on it. He picked it up and the scent of fresh apple pie wafted up to her nose.

"You remembered", she said so softly, he had to strain to hear her. And just as he was about to reply that he remembered every little thing about her, she flung her free arm around his neck and kissed him. He stumbled backwards a bit from the force of her embrace and nearly dropped the bag as he smiled through her kisses.

"Good surprise?", he asked rhetorically. Nikita just smiled beatifically and released him of the bag.

"It's still hot", delight plainly written across her features as she opened the bag. "You want some?"

"Sure."

He wasn't sure if she'd even heard him reply. Nikita had already disappeared from the room, no doubt to grab a plate and fork. He grinned to himself, thinking back to one of the very few times they'd gone out for coffee when she had only just been an agent. They had ended up at this particular deli, three cups of coffee and two big slices of apple pie later, Nikita wasn't jittery anymore from post-mission adrenaline but from a caffeine and sugar overdose instead. He'd made sure she had decaf and a sandwich the next time they went for coffee.


	9. Chapter 8

*8*

Lounging on the floor underneath a window between empty coffee cups and a plate littered with apple pie crumbs, Michael watched Nikita as she lay sprawled on her back relishing the warmth of the sun's rays as they fell upon her face and bare arms. The blanket from their stargazing adventure last night had been the decor of their little picnic. She had stretched out upon it when the apple pie had long since been devoured and dregs were all that remained of their coffees. There had been a lull in their conversation and Michael felt more than content just to watch her in companionable silence.

Like him, she probably didn't afford herself the luxury of leaning back and doing nothing for a change very often, which made their time together like this all the more precious. And while he tried not to dwell too much on the fact that they had less than 24 hours left to just be together, he couldn't help but think about what would happen after. They'd agreed yesterday after a few intense conversations they could make it work between them, despite their complicating circumstances. But as both of them were well aware, that wouldn't just happen on its own.

Tomorrow he'd be back at Division to serve and she would go back to taking it down piece by piece, mission by mission. Their common goal would be to take out Percy by finding and destroying his black boxes. To do that Michael would carefully gather what intel he could from the inside, but like the details of his activities, they hadn't settled on what she was going to do to reach their goal either. Nikita was fiercely independent, used to going at it alone. Her game, her rules. Michael knew there wasn't much he could change about that, but that didn't keep him from worrying.

He'd had no contact with Division since telling Percy he was with him, which also meant he didn't know anything about the going ons within the Black Ops program since then. He needed to figure out if they knew something and if so what that was so he could figure out what that meant for him and Nikita and their mission - because it was their mission now, not just hers anymore. Only if he was aware of all the facts, they would be able to adjust accordingly and only then could he keep Nikita as safe as possible. Knowing her however, he was also pretty sure she wasn't likely to sit around any longer after today. She would want to take action again and pick up where she left off as soon as possible. He also knew that making her do something she didn't really want to, was nothing short of a challenge.

He let his eyes wander over her once more. There was just something about seeing her relaxed like this. Her eyes closed and her face tilted to the sun, she looked much younger than her almost 28 years. Her beloved features once again devoid of make-up and with her hair fanned out behind her in shiny dark waves she exhibited a quality of unspoiled, almost innocent beauty and he imagined this might be what she'd look like all the time if life had been more kind to her. She'd never purposely chosen any of it except maybe for her dalliance with Ketamine, which probably wouldn't have happened either if she hadn't felt the need to numb the pain and escape the horror her young life had been filled with back then.

He knew what had happened to her all before she'd reached the age of twenty. He knew about her being shuffled around from one foster family to another, about the abuse she'd endured, about how she'd run away to try her luck on the streets and the drug abuse that had followed. He also knew a little about her struggle to escape that life, her attempts to leave the streets and the drugs behind and about the drama that had unfolded in the halfway house which landed her on death-row. All courtesy of Division's meticulous reports on every recruit unfortunate enough to be brought within its walls.

What he didn't know was what it must have been like for her. He could imagine, based on the facts he had read in Division's clinical report about her, but he didn't know how she'd lived through it. Amanda's psych evals hadn't mentioned any details about her life before Division, which led him to believe Nikita had been less than generous in divulging any information to Division's mistress of mind games. And even though she grew to confide in him about all sorts of things, including her budding relationship with Daniel - after some not so subtle prodding from his side, Nikita had never talked to him about anything from that period either.

Michael knew Nikita was as much damaged as she was formed by that part of her life. Still Michael wished, not for the first time, she could have been spared from all the brutalities she'd had to suffer at such a young age. While at the same time, he couldn't help but think that she wouldn't be who she was now if she hadn't lived through it and that would also mean she would not be in his life today.

He didn't want to imagine his life without her, he'd had a taste of it during the three years she'd been off Division's - and therefore his, radar. Three long years of not knowing were she was, if she was okay, if she was still alive. He figured he was lucky she'd even survived her life before Division and that was without considering all the things that could have happened to her when she was under the influence of Ketamine.

In a way she had been lucky, but that hadn't been all there was to her continued survival. She was strong, determined and resilient. A true survivor. And through surviving her traumatic youth and then Division too, she had developed an immensely strong moral compass, fighting not only for herself anymore but for anyone who could use her help. Alex and himself coming to mind first.

He was in awe of her, he'd seen her struggle and sometimes be thrown off kilter over the years, but she never really became unbalanced. Not even after Daniel was killed. She always picked herself up, found her focus again and moved on no matter how hard it must have been. She'd told him a couple of days ago he was the strongest person she'd ever met, but he knew that wasn't quite true. She was so much stronger than he had ever been, much stronger than she gave herself credit for.

Nikita opened her eyes and caught his gaze, her smile widening as she asked him, "What are you thinking about?". Her breathy voice stirred up all sorts of warm feelings inside him, tenderness winning out for now. Michael stretched out on his side beside her, "You". He lifted her arm and pressed his lips to the tattoo that graced the inside of it, but did not elaborate. Curling her hand around the back of his head she let her fingers run through his hair for a bit and then guided his face to hers for a kiss.

"Will you do me a favour?", he asked her as he lifted his head and cupped her cheek.

Nikita brought his head down for another short but sweet kiss, locking her eyes with his for a moment. "What?", she breathed over his lips.

"Let me find out whatever it is Division does or does not know, before you get back to foiling missions left and right." His husky voice held no recrimination, just a request, which she easily picked up on and was amused by. The corners of her mouth curling up slightly she responded, "Why?".

Michael dipped his head down and touched his lips to hers briefly once more. "You know why", he answered her softly.

She did. He didn't want her to be at risk any more than she had to be. She had voiced the same wish for him when she'd told him yesterday she didn't want him to return to Division. But just as she understood that he had to and that they would be able to use it to their advantage, he should also know she couldn't and wouldn't just stop working on Percy's demise from her side. She tilted her head a bit, searching his eyes before responding just as softly, "Are you forgetting I'm a big girl again?" Her words reminded him of their conversation not so long ago, when they'd lain in ambush for Kasim.

"You know I can take care of myself", she added gently when he didn't respond and trailed her fingers down the side of his face in a loving caress.

"That's not it...", he fell silent for a bit, searching for the right words, "... it's a risk you don't have to take." His thumb traced the edge of the now nearly invisible bruise over her cheekbone, "Just let me check and get back to you before you do anything."

She plainly recognised the plea in his eyes and voice as he spoke. He worried for her safety, she couldn't exactly fault him for that, not when the same was true in return. So she granted him his request, "Alright."

Michael released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and kissed her again before rolling to lie on his back and taking her with him. He wrapped his arms around her and hooked a leg over hers as Nikita curled herself into his side and rested her head on his chest, perfectly happy to just let him hold her and enjoying the loving strokes of his hands along her back and through her hair.

Drawing circles on his chest, she broke the silence after a few minutes of quiet contentment, "What time do you need to leave tomorrow?" When she was still in Division, Michael seemed to be always there. She could recount the times she'd seen him come in in the morning or leave in the evening clearly because there had been so few of them.

"Around 5.30."

Nikita swallowed, _just a little more than half a day left_. She didn't want to dwell on what they didn't have though, she'd rather focus on what they did have and so she responded with a touch of humour, "That's still well before the crack of dawn babe."

"Only a little. Sun's up at 6.41."

Nikita sniggered to herself, _trust Michael to know the exact minute the sun comes up._ She pressed a kiss over his heart.

"What will you be doing tomorrow?"

"Don't know yet, now that I won't be sabotaging any Division jobs", she grinned at him, coaxing a grin from him in return. "Check my sources, resupply probably", she added in that breathy tone of hers. Resting her chin on his chest she drank him in and then it hit her anew, she was going to miss him, a lot. Especially because she didn't know when she'd see him again and despite her better judgement.

He looked at her questioningly when he saw the smile fading from her eyes. Tucking a wayward wavy lock of hair behind her ear he asked her, "What is it?"

Nikita sighed, she'd never been the needy type and she didn't want to start now, but she did very much want to know, "When do you think we'll see each other again?"

Her quietly uttered question tugged at his heartstrings. He wanted to tell her he'd be back tomorrow night but the truth was, he had no idea if he would be able to or if it would even be safe. Trailing a hand through her hair he answered just as quietly, "I don't know."

Nikita swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and nodded once, breaking eye contact. She knew they would have to be very careful, that they had already taken a risk in spending these two days together. But still…

Michael was studying her reaction carefully, watching the emotions play across her face as she gazed at her hand on his chest, seemingly engrossed in the pattern her fingers were tracing there. He wondered what he could possibly say to her that would make her feel better, hell, make himself feel better, but couldn't come up with anything substantial. He placed his fingers underneath her chin and lifted his own face up to hers. "Soon", he said and then he kissed her, gently and full of promise.

Nikita exhaled slowly and nodded again, placing her head on his chest, listening to his heart beating a steady rhythm. Kissing the top of her head, Michael simply held her. He inched his hand underneath her top, placing his palm on the small of her back, his fingers fondling her warm skin. Nikita released a deep breath, concentrated on his caresses and let herself relax in his embrace.


	10. Chapter 9

_A/N Posting another chapter. Thanks to all who are reading. A special thanks to those of you dropping me a line in one form or another, it's greatly appreciated!_

* * *

*9*

"Not fast enough", Nikita panted with a smile as she ducked underneath Michael's arm and danced out of his reach. She brought her arms up in a starting position as she and Michael circled each other on the mat.

His face showed a hint of his trademark half-smile as he advanced upon her slightly, daring her to make a move. _This was a good idea_ , Michael congratulated himself for suggesting they spar for a couple of rounds. _Nothing like physical exertion to battle an impending blue funk._

Nikita closed in on him, her eyes gleaming with determination. Tiny beads of sweat pearled on her forehead and between her breasts, making her skin glisten and distracting him thoroughly. Which was probably why his last strike missed its intended target… A drop of sweat rolling over the curve of Nikita's breast and disappearing into her sports bra caught his attention. Michael cursed inwardly and told himself to focus.

She attacked, he parried. A blow stopped in mid-air, a kick evaded and then Michael's leg shot out at the same time as Nikita's fist. He blocked the punch, using her energy behind it to bring her further of balance as his foot hooked behind her ankle, landing Nikita flat on her back on the mat, her breath whooshing out of her.

"Fast enough?", he taunted, reaching out to give her a hand up. Nikita grinned at him and gave a sharp tug on his proffered hand while she swung out a leg and effectively swiped his feet from underneath him landing him next to her with a loud 'oomph'.

"Nope", she smiled triumphantly as she rolled and pecked his lips. Getting up in one smooth motion, Nikita pulled him up after her and quipped, "Either you're losing your touch, or your heart isn't really in it."

He refrained from telling her his heart was more than in it, as were a few other vital parts of his body… Which was part of the problem. He was enjoying their hand to hand combat a lot, but images of the many other ways he could be touching her instead of them taking turns landing flat on the mat as they sparred, kept assaulting him every time they came into full contact and he got a whiff of the unique scent that was Nikita's. That along with the vision she presented - all that smooth, sweat slick skin and pert breasts heaving from exertion combined with that lovely daring smile of hers - sent his mind and body into overdrive and wreaked havoc on his reflexes. Again he told himself to snap out of it.

Michael heard, rather than saw the smile that accompanied her taunt and gathering his wits, turned the tables on her lightning fast. In a smooth but abrupt swing he had her immobilised against his chest. A second move had her mostly naked back connecting with the mat again with him straddling her hips and her hands locked in his above her head.

"Really?", he asked somewhat teasingly as he looked down upon her. He couldn't resist taunting her some more and bent forward to breathe over her lips, "Lesson one: never turn your back..." But he didn't get to finish - the glint in her eyes should have been enough warning, because at that moment she bucked her hips and managed to regain the upper hand, flipping him underneath her in a practiced move. A move he had taught her himself as fate would have it. She interlaced their fingers, pressing the backs of his hands into the mat and with her legs on either side of him, she fitted their hips together with heart-stopping accuracy. Michael's breath left him in a hiss as his body instantly responded to the warmth of hers.

"Lesson number two: don't get cocky." Nikita's breathy voice washed over him, as she repeated his own words from years ago back to him. She raised an eyebrow suggestively and then Michael made her eat her words by flipping them both over again and thrusting his burgeoning arousal against her, rousing the heat in her further. Nikita bit her lip and closed her eyes. Biting back a moan, she instinctively tilted her pelvis to try and increase the friction.

Memories of their sparring sessions in Division clouded Michael's mind and fueled his desire to follow through now on what he had very much wanted but couldn't have back then. This was too good an opportunity to live out a fantasy that had plagued him many a night during her training days, to pass up. Freeing one hand by grasping both of hers in one of his, he trailed a featherlight caress down her arm to the side of a heaving breast and over her bare stomach. "You want to go another round?", he asked rhetorically. His voice a heated whisper against her ear before he traced his tongue along the outer rim.

Nikita moaned and pushed her pelvis against his once more which made Michael smile in pure male satisfaction. Gently biting down on her earlobe he shifted his hips to make room for his questing hand to slip underneath the waistband of her yoga-pants, cupping her through her already soaked underwear. The fact that it wasn't just in his head, that she turned out to be just as affected by their sparring session as he was, pleased him immeasurably and encouraged him to increase the pressure of his hand against her cloth-covered heat. He watched her eyes slowly drift close as she ground herself against his hand.

"You play dirty", she gasped.

He smiled against the skin behind her ear, kissing her there. "All's fair in love and war", his voice no more than a gravelly whisper as he curled his fingers against her. Nikita's spine curved into a bow involuntarily, thrusting out her breasts while she tried to free her hands from his. "Tease", she accused breathlessly.

"Not if I follow through", Michael replied, catching her lips in a kiss. Plundering her mouth, he pushed her underwear aside and slid two fingers through her sleek and slippery folds to enter her in one smooth stroke. "Oh god", she moaned, sucking in a deep breath at the sudden but oh so welcome invasion and arching her back again as Michael started to gently stroke his fingers up and down inside her silky warmth, his thumb finding her tiny bundle of nerves unerringly and circling it slowly. She pulled up the leg that wasn't held hostage by his and let it fall open, granting him greater access to her burning flesh.

Michael slanted his lips over the pulse point in her neck and sucked before lightly scraping his teeth over it. Her breath hitched in her throat as he curled his fingers inside of her on a downstroke, making her push herself further into his clever hand. His voice rumbled through her, "Hmm, you're so wet", she groaned as he flicked his thumb a little harder over her bud. As if on cue another gush of moisture soaked his fingers and he smiled again, kissing the skin over her jaw.

"How long have you been like this?" She couldn't answer him beyond a gasp as he stroked over an exceptionally sensitive spot inside of her and Michael didn't really expect her to either. At the same time he couldn't help but tease her some more, nipping her lips, he whispered over them, "I could smell you, you know." She moaned and tried to catch his lips. "Just like before. Spicy and sweet and something very much you." Nikita sucked in a breath at his provocative words and then he was kissing her again. His tongue stroking against hers in the most sensual way, keeping pace with his fingers inside of her.

As their kiss turned into the tasting of lips, Michael picked up the pace of his strokes to her appreciative moan and slowly kissed his way back to her ear. Taunting her a little more he whispered over it, "I love that you want me so much." Nikita whimpered, thrusting her hips in time with his strokes. He kissed her deeply once more and scraped his thumbnail over her bud. Nikita broke their kiss breathing heavily, "Oh yes".

Michael smiled again and licked a path down her neck to her collarbone, tasting and kissing her salty skin, telling her in between kisses, "You have no idea how good it feels to be inside of you." Nikita's breath left her in a shuddering sigh, his words only adding to her desire. "So tight, so warm." He rubbed his thumb against her a little harder as his fingers stroked her faster and the muscles in her legs tightened and twitched in anticipation. "So delicious when you come around me."

Nikita groaned and let out a soft cry of pleasure as his fingers stroked over her most sensitive inner spot again and again, his thumb keeping up a fiery rhythm against her bud. Building the heat in her more and more until he felt the telltale shiver inside of her and told her, "Come Nikita, come now." He closed his mouth over the tender skin of her neck while his fingers and thumb increased its ministrations inside and against her, letting her desire crest and overflow. Her muscles contracted around his fingers tightly as she let out a long, low cry of release. Her fingers instinctively grasped the hand that held them captive, while her leg closed over his other hand, capturing it against her as wave after wave of pleasure rolled over her.

Gently stroking her through her orgasm, Michael released her hands to curl his around her neck while he kissed her softly, treasuring her. Nikita shuddered against him almost violently. Reduced to a quivering mass she lay beneath him, letting him kiss and touch her as he pleased, feeling absolutely adored and too overcome to even lift her arms from their position above her head.

Long minutes passed as Michael let her come down gently, staring at her in wonder. She was utterly lovely like this, glassy eyed and boneless. Swept away by passion, satisfied at his hands, quite literally this time. He felt her tremors die down somewhat, her breathing turning slightly more regular even as her scent still permeated the air around them.

It wasn't enough. He wanted more. He wanted to taste her again. But above all he wanted to fill her with joy again, to keep her from thinking any less than pleasant thoughts. To keep her from thinking period. He wanted to keep her mindless with bliss, for just a little while longer. Because that was exactly what she deserved.

His fingers changed their soothing rhythm inside her and his thumb connected with her still overly sensitive bud in a teasing caress, flaring up her desire for him in a heartbeat. Not quite having regained the power of speech, Nikita let out a mewling sound as her whole body came alive with need once again.

Michael pushed himself up on one hand, stroking through her trembling warmth one last time before pulling his fingers out of her and stroking her tender folds goodbye for now as he removed his hand from her completely. She let out a gasp at the loss and he touched his lips to hers in a kiss meant more to comfort than to stir.

 _Too much clothes._ He wanted to see all of her again, have free access to every part of her. Without much ceremony he divested her of her workout clothes and underwear, happy they'd foregone shoes for their little sparring session. He took off his own shirt just as quickly, leaving on his pants for the moment and then he was on her again, skin to skin, her puckered nipples poking into his chest as he settled between her legs.

Nikita's hands came up to tangle in his hair as he touched his lips to hers again, plundering her mouth and trailing his hands down, grazing the sides of her breasts in a slow butterfly light caress. He felt a shiver run through her and his mouth left hers to kiss down her throat. Reaching the dip between her collarbones he licked his way down to the valley of her breasts, once again tasting the salty tang of clean sweat on her skin. Nikita inhaled sharply as one of his hands came up to knead one breast, teasing the nipple into almost painful tightness before his fingers closed over it and pinched slightly. She whimpered as the sensation echoed deep in her belly, an answering pang radiating outwards, making the folds of her sex ache with the desire to be touched anew.

Michael's mouth closed over her other nipple and she moaned again. Her legs spreading a little wider of their own accord, the fabric of his sweatpants lightly chafing her damp thighs when she moved them. He smiled against her as his lips and tongue lavished attention first to one breast and then to the other, his hands tracing further down to grasp her now wriggling hips as she sought relief. Trailing his tongue down her rigid abdomen he dipped it into her navel, kissing it deeply before traveling further down, halting just above the apex of her thighs.

With her scent filling his nostrils once more and her harsh breathing the only sound in the room, he lifted one of her legs to drape it over his shoulder. Blowing warm air over her dark pink folds, he pushed the other leg up and bent it outwards, spreading her before him. One of her hands left his hair to trail down to his cheek, fingers outlining his upper lip. He caught them in his mouth, sucking their tips for a moment, coaxing a strangled moan from her throat, before grasping her hand in his and twining their fingers.

Resting their joined digits next to her raised leg on the mat she squeezed his a little and then the vision before him proved too much to resist and he dipped his head to her heated flesh, tracing her luscious folds with his tongue before sucking her bud between his lips. Nikita made that mewling sound again as she tilted her pelvis at him, her hips bucking even though his free hand on her smooth thigh tried holding her down. It was too much and not enough at the same time.

Her voice having left her, all she could do was feel and gasp for air as he took her higher and higher. Not able to think straight anymore, Nikita shed the last of her inhibitions. He felt so good. Her fingers tightened in his hair almost painfully as she held his mouth to her sex in a wordless demand for more.

Michael couldn't contain a moan of his own at her wantonness. His body taut with desire, the hard hot flesh between his legs throbbing for attention. Attention he consciously denied it, as he wanted this to be all about Nikita. The incredibly strong and independent woman that had captured his heart a long time ago. An innately sensual being he had the joy of turning into a lascivious nymph underneath his hands and mouth as he loved her with everything in him.

Michael kissed her more heatedly, his tongue swirling around her bud before trailing down and penetrating her deeply, licking a very pleasurable spot inside her silken walls. Nikita arched off the mat at the overwhelming sensation, gasping brokenly as his tongue stroked through her throbbing flesh. Her heel dug into his back as her hand squeezed his harder and her nails scoured his scalp. Another strangled gasp escaped her.

 _Yes_ , Michael thought to himself as he licked and laved, tasting her spicy sweetness, devouring her - this was exactly what he wanted, how he wanted her, out of her mind with lust and centered wholly on the feelings he provoked in her and nothing else. He would never get enough of this, never get enough of her.

As far as Michael was concerned, Nikita's desire reached its peak all too soon. He felt her muscles flutter against his tongue, her flesh quivering against his lips, her legs stiffening as she gasped again. A choked, "Oh", was the only sound she made as he intensified his intimate kiss for just a second before she tumbled over the edge and into bliss.


	11. Chapter 10

*10*

Nikita couldn't sleep. She had no idea what time it was as she lay listening to Michael's deep and even breathing, her body curled around his, his strong arms holding her close while she had her fingers tucked between his ribs and the mattress and one leg slung possessively over his. In just a few hours he would have to leave and then this little piece of heaven they had carved out for themselves right here in her loft would disappear with him until he managed to return to her again.

She'd made peace with the fact that he would have to go back to Division, but she couldn't bring herself to relax enough to sleep away their last few hours together. It wasn't that she wasn't tired, because she was. Her and Michael's activities of the day had well and truly exhausted her as they'd thoroughly loved each other quite a few different, but all so very precious - times today.

Michael enjoyed being in control when they made love and even though she could by no means be labeled a passive lover, she was just as happy to completely cede it to him, as she was in taking a more active part. Letting him call the shots made her feel absolutely cherished, like she was the centre of his universe. And she liked that. She liked it a lot, she had found out this morning and then again this afternoon.

Nikita knew this was in no small part due to the fact that Michael was probably the least selfish lover she had ever had. Another something she had learned the last few days and something that had been blatantly reaffirmed when he had taken nothing for himself this afternoon on the sparring mat. He had been focussed solely upon her and bringing her bliss and had seemed to derive his own pleasure from hers. He had played her body like a finely tuned instrument, bringing her to great heights and delivering devastating ecstasy.

It wasn't that he hadn't wanted her then, his body had betrayed that fact all too clearly. There was no way his own arousal could have escaped her attention even if he had completely overloaded all of her senses with his skilful touch and taunting words as he had loved her until her body was as limp as a rag doll's, her bones feeling completely liquified and her muscles relaxed into a state of total uselessness.

She had tried to get him to join her after she had come back to her senses enough to form a coherent thought and had regained some strength in her limbs - the occasional delicious tremor still traveling through her legs - but he had just smiled that heart-stopping smile of his and kissed her sweetly after he'd shaken his head and simply told her, "Later."

Michael had just lain there with her, on the floor, cuddling and kissing her and looking at her as if she were the only thing in the world worthy of his attention, while she enjoyed the after effects of his touch. And then when the slight chill of the room had made goosebumps appear on her cooling skin, he had simply picked her up and taken her into the bathroom where he'd joined her in the shower for a second time that day.

Nikita was sure she would never forget the way he'd held her close to him while warm water washed over them. She didn't have the words to even begin to express how he'd made her feel but she knew she had never felt more cherished or peaceful in her life, just standing there enveloped in his arms, his face resting against the side of hers.

They had shared an intimacy that went far beyond their already very wonderful love making by just being in each others arms, silently holding each other close and surrounded by the warmth of the shower's rushing spray. One of his hands had stroked comfortingly over her shoulders and back, while the other had cradled her head to his shoulder. She'd had her arms loosely wrapped around his waist, her fingers splayed over his smooth skin and her face buried against his neck where her lips rested over his pulse point. His still partly erect flesh had been a warm weight against her belly as they stood pressed together from knee to shoulder.

Nikita didn't recall how long they had stood there basking in each others embrace, what she did know was that the kind of tranquility they had found right there in each others arms was not something you could find with just anybody at any given moment. She had known then and there that this was something that went far beyond anything she'd known before. Something truly special, something uniquely theirs. Something people search for their whole life, while only the lucky ones manage to find it. A thought that had made the love she felt for Michael overflow. Even now as she lay awake, watching him sleep and thinking back to that moment, it added to the sense of belonging, of rightness she felt in his arms.

That same sense of rightness had also flowed through her as they'd stood in the shower this afternoon, when Michael's hands had come round to cup her face, tilting it up to his and kissing her ever so gently as her hands traced along his spine. Her fingers had memorised every protrusion, curve and dip of his vertebrae as they slowly wound their way down, spanning across his narrow waist and dipping into the dimples on his lower back, softly massaging his wet skin and the pronounced muscles underneath.

He had swelled against her belly and she had tilted her hips towards him as she'd raised one hand to reverently touch his jaw. Her other hand had pulled his torso a little closer against her, trapping his length between both their bodies. Their eyes had locked and then it had been the most natural thing in the world for Nikita to loop both of her arms around his neck and shoulders, and for Michael to lift her up against him, fitting their pelvises together but not quite yet joining their bodies.

Nikita had wrapped her long legs around his waist on a sigh as Michael had taken a step and pressed her up against the tiled wall. The back of her head had been protectively cushioned by one of his hands and then he had kissed her again. Slowly and sweetly, taking his time, before dipping his head down to kiss that sensitive spot below her ear and the one on the juncture where her shoulder met her neck, both of which he'd become well acquainted with in the last few days as he had with quite a few other parts of her body.

She had held him to her, twisting her hips the tiniest bit to increase the contact between their sexes while running her fingers through his hair, letting one hand dip lower to caress his neck and shoulder as another sigh escaped her. Her warm breath had fanned his ear as she'd pressed her lips to the edge of his cheekbone and her upper body further into his, her arms tightening around him.

Michael had let out an answering sigh, finding her lips with his again as he'd lifted her up a little more to let his length slip between her folds. And then all Nikita could remember was the heavenly feeling of him filling her up again, slowly but surely, and him breaking their kiss to catch her eyes with his as he rested his forehead against hers.

Just like the first time they had made love, they hadn't had any need for words this time either. Their hearts and bodies speaking to each other loud and clear, elevating that feeling of rightness to a whole new level. Their mouths finding each other over and over while their fingers had stroked and caressed, they had made love leisurely as the water from the shower fell down around them. Time had seemed to slow and then stop altogether as they'd found paradise in each others arms once more.

Afterwards, when they'd both caught their breaths, Michael had gently put Nikita back on her feet and they had taken the time to kiss and caress some more as they had slowly washed each other, quietly treasuring every single moment.

Dinner had been a quiet affair too. Both of them working side by side again in the kitchen to fashion a simple meal from what was left over in her kitchen, which hadn't been much if she was honest. She could add grocery shopping to her list of things to do while she was not bringing down Division tomorrow, she thought ruefully.

Michael stirred in his sleep, tightening his arms around her for a minute or so before he sighed and relaxed again, sleeping on, completely oblivious to her musings. She pressed a kiss to his chest and rested her head over his heart, careful not to wake him. He needed his rest for when he went back to Division tomorrow.

Her nerves about him going back to the lion's den, hadn't completely disappeared, probably never would. But that was nothing new. She had worried about him before, just like she worried about Alex. But that was just the way it was. She'd had to learn to live with that a long time ago.

He was right though about needing to go back. Not doing so would open up a whole other can of worms and going back could speed the search for the remaining black boxes up considerably. And she really needed that. Needed Division to be a thing of the past, so that days like the last two wouldn't have a looming shadow hanging over them that threatened to catch up with her every now and then despite her having become very adept at keeping it at bay.

Nikita pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind, choosing to think of more pleasant things like the way she and Michael had curled up together on her Louis Seize sofa with a glass of wine after dinner. No sense in worrying about stuff you can't change anyway. They had talked about how she'd managed to procure Withfield's loft with a big amount of his super-dollars as an added bonus. About how long she'd been living there, practically in Division's backyard. Almost hiding in plain sight.

Nikita had sniggered and Michael had frowned when she'd told him of the few times she'd recognised a Division agent in the streets. His frown hadn't gone away when she'd told him that aside from one close call, she'd never been in any real danger. Nobody was expecting to see her, so they just didn't and she was always quick enough to disappear. A serious shortcoming in their training she had called it, hoping this would coax at least a hint of a smile from him. But it didn't, so she'd lifted her head from its resting place on his thigh and crawled into his lap to kiss his frown away.

"You have to be more careful", he'd told her when she'd released his lips. She'd smiled at him, loving him for his concern for her and let her hand wander down the side of his face in a loving caress.

"I'm serious Nikita", his voice had taken on its 'handler' quality and she'd had to restrain herself from smiling wider.

"I know you are", she'd tried to placate him. "... and I will be", she had promised him in a gentle tone.

"Percy's orders are shoot to kill, not to capture."

She'd known there wasn't really anything more she could say, so she'd framed his face between her palms and kissed him. Short and sweet the first time, lingering a little longer and nipping his bottom lip the second time, and letting her tongue lightly caress the seem of his lips the third time until he opened up to her and she kissed him with deliberate sensuousness.

"Are you trying to distract me?, Michael had asked just before her lips had descended on his for a fourth time.

Nikita remembered having trouble keeping a straight face as she'd replied innocently, "Is it working?"

The beginnings of a smile had pulled at the corners of his mouth and then she'd kissed him again, unable to resist. Stroking his tongue with hers, exploring his mouth while his hands buried themselves in her hair as he held her to him.

"Yeah", he had whispered huskily, breaking their kiss. His hands had left her hair to fit her hips closer to his.

"Good", she had whispered back, her own smile blossoming as she had felt his body stirring with the beginnings of arousal. She remembered resting her forehead against his and trailing her hands along his arms until her fingers lightly enclosed his wrists and then asking him in a breathy tone, "You want to go to bed?" To which he had replied with another "Yeah", the gravelly tone of his voice much more pronounced this time.

She recalled kissing him again and grabbing his hands with hers as she climbed off of him. She also distinctly remembered him getting up after her and pulling her flush against him, his arms wrapping around her so their joined hands rested in the small of her back, trapping her against him as he'd kissed her deeply.

He had kept her in their passionate kiss while moving them both slowly towards the bed before he had let go of her hands, which she had then immediately put to good use. They had divested each other of their clothes, breaking their kiss only to pull his shirt over his head and her tank top over hers, before tumbling to the bed in a tangled heap of arms and legs, completely naked and laughing.

She thought back on how they had taken their time again to explore each other at length, fingertips charting smooth skin over muscle and bone followed by lips kissing every bit of flesh they could reach. They had savoured every touch, every kiss and every sigh, the heat between them gradually turning into a blazing inferno that could no longer be denied.

A blissful smile stretched her mouth as she listened to his heart beating strong and steady underneath her ear while she thought back to the moment she had eventually collapsed on top of Michael as they both tumbled over the edge and into bliss. She'd taken a little longer to catch her breath than Michael had this time and to her slight surprise he'd fallen asleep on her. She'd bitten back a laugh at that, careful not to wake him, and had found that she couldn't begrudge him succumbing to sleep so soon after at all. To her, it spoke of trust. The kind of trust that enabled him to let down his guard completely with her, something she was intensely grateful for.

Waves of tenderness flowed over her as she looked upon his beloved features relaxed in sleep once more. Nikita placed another sweet kiss over his heart and laid her head back down again, a yawn pulling at the muscles in her jaw. She still didn't really want to go to sleep herself though. This feeling of contentedness as she lay in his arms, his scent filling her nostrils and his warmth permeating her skin everywhere they touched, was just too good to let go of.

If only she weren't so tired, she could watch him all night. She felt her eyelids getting heavier and his arms tightening the tiniest bit around her, one of his hands coming up to tangle in her hair at the base of her skull in his sleep. Another yawn escaped her. This one made her eyes water. Maybe she'd close her eyes for just a second...

* * *

The next thing Nikita knew, was the soft caress of Michael's fingertips as he stroked a strand of hair behind her ear. She woke up to find him sitting on the edge of the bed freshly showered and dressed in the suit he'd brought over yesterday morning. _No. Not yet. I'm not ready yet._ A tiny voice inside her protested as her throat tightened.

The scent of fresh coffee reached her just as Michael placed the steaming cup on the nightstand next to her. He trailed his fingertips over her jaw as she pushed herself up to a sitting position, taking the sheet with her, covering her breasts. His deep voice washed over her while his hand descended further and reached for hers, "Good morning."

Nikita didn't trust her voice to speak just yet and one look in his eyes told her Michael wasn't feeling in the best of spirits to have to be leaving either. She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting the sheet fall away as she pressed her upper body into his, hugging him tight. His arms came around her, his fingers stroking over her warm skin and he gently kissed her shoulder.

They sat like that for a few minutes, drawing strength and comfort from each other until Nikita collected herself enough to speak, her voice slightly muffled as her lips moved against his throat, "What time is it?"

She felt Michael move his arm against her back to glance at his watch, "5.24", he uttered with a sigh. Nikita tightened her arms around him for a bit and squeezed her eyes shut, trying for just a second to shut out the world before she pulled herself together and sat back enough to be able to look Michael in the eye and gift him with a small smile. She found his lips with hers and kissed him good morning. A slow and sedate kiss, that told him she loved him without words.

Michael's breath shuddered out of him as he kissed her back, the feel of her naked back underneath his hands as she was pressed against him, presenting a temptation he couldn't indulge in. But oh, did he want to. His arms full of his warm and naked love, their kiss turning into something much more sensual, her fingers skimming over his sides underneath his jacket... It was enough to make a lesser man's resolve come crashing down. But he really didn't have a choice...

He reluctantly broke their kiss and buried his face in her neck, heaving a regretful sigh. "I have to go", he uttered softly. Nikita smiled despite herself and took pity on him. She pulled back a little, kissing his cheek and pulling up the sheet one-handedly, creating a sense of modesty as her other hand came up to cup his jaw. "Be careful", she told him softly and gently pecked his lips. Michael closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers for a moment, the tips of their noses lightly touching. "You too", he finally replied and then he kissed her tenderly one last time before getting up and leaving her and their little sanctuary for now.


	12. Chapter 11

*11*

Nikita was restless.

Nikita hated feeling restless. She'd much rather be doing something useful like stopping Division from cleaning up the mess a US diplomat had made in South Africa so that he'd be brought to justice instead of going about his merry corrupt way, like he would now. For quite a pretty penny - she was sure of that - Division would make all his problems go away. Tax-payers penny's, she fumed. But she'd promised Michael she'd lay low and not interfere until he'd had the chance to get back to her.

He hadn't had that chance yet. He'd sent her a text last night, _Not tonight. X_ , short and sweet, typical Michael. It hadn't made her worry more than she already did. She hadn't really expected him to be back the same night anyway. Michael had accused Percy of playing things close to the vest, but he did exactly the same thing. He would be careful, like she'd asked of him, and make absolutely sure the risk was as small as it could be, before he'd be back. She'd always known she'd be the one taking the risks in this relationship, not Michael. The thought made a smile tug at her lips.

Nevertheless she had missed him last night. After he'd left yesterday morning, she'd spent a little more time in bed. But it had felt a little strange and awkward to be sitting there alone, naked, sipping the coffee he'd brought her. So she'd gotten up and after showering and dressing, she'd set to work on erasing all traces of Michael's presence in the loft, just in case Alex would want to stop by or something.

She'd done the laundry, washed the dishes and had gathered up Michael's bag with his clothes and stuffed them in an unused cupboard in the hall. She'd been meticulous until there was nothing left to do but change the bed. The sheets still smelled of him and the thought of washing his scent from them caused her stomach to tie up in knots. She hesitated for just a second before she berated herself sternly and changed the sheets anyway.

All immediately visible traces of Michael gone from the loft, she got into contact with the supplier that would most likely be able to fill the tall order she had for him, in the least amount of time and managed to negotiate a deal on a state of the art signal jammer. One that would also mask echoes and filter ambient sounds before they were picked up by the receiver of say: a mobile phone. That would ensure a repeat of how Michael had tracked Alex to the loft would not occur. It was going to cost her, the supplier had said to her. She didn't care.

Nikita had been in the middle of paying for her groceries that same afternoon, when she got a text from the supplier telling her where to meet him the next day at noon and what the price was. She had not been able to repress a sigh. She knew a con when she saw one. She was prepared to pay a steep price, but this was just too much. She needed the device though...

There was only one thing for it, persuade him to rethink his asking price. So after she had done her customary check on possible Division activity, she had filled the rest of the day with digging up as much dirt on him as she possible could. She'd compiled an impressive file of said dirt and set a few things in motion to back up her threat if he decided to call her bluff. Michael wouldn't define her plan as laying low exactly, but she had decided that what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him in this particular case and besides, she was doing it to protect the both of them and Alex.

Still somewhat sleep-deprived she'd gone to bed early that evening. Her phone next to her gun on the nightstand on the off chance Michael would text again. She'd dressed in the shirt he had been wearing the day before when he'd returned to the loft, which she'd grabbed from his bag after only briefly arguing with herself on whether she should or not. Like the sheets - she'd since changed, his shirt smelled like him and she found that besides its warmth, she wanted the added comfort his scent gave her while she tried to convince herself she really didn't miss him that much after only three nights together.

Despite being surrounded by his scent, or maybe because it was a reminder of what she'd missed, she'd slept poorly last night. Which had done nothing for her mood this morning when she'd gone to meet with that scrawny little excuse for a man that was to be her supplier today. She'd managed to get him to rethink his asking price after some mild coercion. She would never be able to do business with him again after all was said and done, but she had taken that in stride and was just happy with the fact that she now had what she needed. Her mood had lightened considerably at the thought that anyone setting foot in the loft would now be as untraceable as was technologically possible.

Her improved mood wasn't meant to last apparently. Alex had phoned her only two hours ago and informed her of the clean-up mission that was to take place to save the US diplomat's ass. A team would be deployed to South Africa immediately, Alex wasn't on it, for which Nikita breathed a sigh of relief after all that she'd been through ever since she'd been in detox with Amanda.

Nikita had dared not ask the girl if Michael was going to South Africa, but instead asked her about Nathan and tried to talk to her about a timeline on getting her out of Division. They nearly fought about the first, when Alex told her she'd spent the weekend with him in the Hamptons and because of that the latter didn't appeal to her much at this point in time if she could not take him with her. And that just wasn't an option, it would be difficult enough getting Alex out in relative safety. No, Alex would need to break it off with him, but she just wasn't ready yet and Nikita picked up on the young agent's anxiety over it quite easily.

Nikita felt frustrated that she apparently hadn't been able to impress the danger of getting involved with a civilian upon Alex enough, but at the same time she also knew this was no conversation that should be had over the phone. So she'd let Alex go when she started to become defensive and asked her to please consider her options carefully and told her she cared about her too much for her to willingly put herself in more danger than she already was. Alex had sighed at that and promised she would call her back tomorrow and that had been that.

So here she was, feeling restless. She'd conducted a search on the internet on the diplomat and checked in with a few sources and now she had all this knowledge and nowhere to go with it. Nikita couldn't decide on what had been the worse idea, her promising Michael she'd lay low for the time being or gathering more intel on a mission she couldn't prevent or steer in another direction anyway. Nikita sighed in frustration and decided on doing some yoga, to try and clear her head and burn some energy.

Another couple of hours later she'd put her body through a gruelling workout, fixed herself a veggie shake that she drank only half-heartedly and debated with herself on having a long soak in the tub or opting for a quick shower. She checked her phone for a text from Michael even though she knew there wouldn't be one as the sound was on and it hadn't left her vicinity once that day.

If she were being honest with herself, Nikita might have admitted that she was only mildly irritated at not being able to do anything to stop Division in its tracks at present and that she was mostly crabby because she hadn't heard from Michael apart from that text last night and hated not knowing if he was even on the continent right now. But to admit that would be to admit that she might just miss him more than she had anticipated and that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't really as comfortable with being totally self-reliant as she'd liked to believe she was after all. It made you lonely at times.

In the end Nikita decided on taking a bath. She took a glass of wine with her, hoping the warm water combined with the ingestion of alcohol would calm her mind. The scented bubble bath she'd used filled the room with the smell of citrus and that combined with the ingestion alcohol allowed her to relax. She stayed in the bath until her fingers and toes were pruned beyond recognition and the water started to cool too much to be comfortable anymore.

Another glance at her phone told her again she had no new messages. She imagined he was probably in South Africa. Resigned to not seeing him again tonight, she went to bed. Wrapped once again in Michael's shirt, she fell asleep nearly as soon as her head hit her pillow. The soft, toned down beep of her phone signalling an incoming text message just twenty minutes later, never even consciously registered with her.

* * *

For Michael the past day and a half, had progressed in a similarly tiring way. Division was quiet when he arrived yesterday morning, but that hadn't lasted long. Before he had even had time to figure out how to best embark on his search for the remaining guardians and the black boxes in their custody, he'd been swamped in one task after another, the last of which was overseeing the South African mission that went down tonight.

The one good thing about immediately being back in the thick of all things Division was the fact that he could only conclude that the Black Ops organisation and its leaders were none the wiser to Nikita's whereabouts or his and Alex's subterfuge. The bad thing about it, besides not having been able to gain any knowledge on the remaining black boxes just yet, was the fact that he'd been working almost non-stop. Except for the three hours he'd crashed on a Division bunk last night, he had had no time to spare to consult or even inform Nikita of this fact. He had only just managed to send her a text last night he wouldn't make it back to her, and one mere hours ago informing her he wanted to be by tonight, but would be very very late.

Michael had not been required in the field, but he had been the one to oversee tactical support from Operations right next to Birkhoff. The mission had gone like clockwork, but try as he might, he hadn't been able to help the nervous feeling that had come over him as it played out. This was a mission Nikita most definitely would have interfered with before. They had agreed she wouldn't come after Division until he checked in with her, but still…

It wasn't that he didn't trust her, he just had trouble shaking a feeling of impending doom. He wasn't really worried about her going back on her word, he was more worried about the fact that if he expected her to interfere in a mission, others would too. And when she didn't, that might raise questions too… He knew he was driving himself crazy with paranoia, but he hadn't survived within Division's walls for nine plus years not learning a thing or two about its masters.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered Birkhoff's voice rambling on. He'd long ago mastered the fine art of tuning out _nerd_ \- as Nikita had always been fond of calling him - when he was spouting non-relevant information, to save himself from a brain haemorrhage by irritation. The sound of his name leaving Birkhoff's lips made him tune in again though, the hacker rarely called him by his given name when it was just the two of them, "Michael! Have you heard anything I just said?"

"Actually, no."

A long suffering sigh preceded Birkhoff's next words, "Right, well, I'm going to call it a night. Maybe you should too, the way you've been zoning out, hmm?"

Michael swallowed a curse, being bone-tired lowered his tolerance level significantly. Birkhoff was staring at him, a frown marring the hacker's forehead, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, didn't get much sleep last night", Michael offered in the most neutral tone he could manage. "I think I'll head out too."

The frown didn't completely leave Birkhoff's face, but other than a "Yeah, right. Well, good night Mikey", he offered nothing more and just got up and made his way out of Operations, his chair still swivelling as Birkhoff disappeared from view completely. Michael sighed, he'd have to mind himself much more carefully around Birkhoff now…

He noticed it was already well past midnight and his frustration at the way the past forty plus hours had progressed was complete when he pulled out his phone to check for a reply from Nikita and saw there was none. Inwardly cursing, he weighed his options for a few seconds before deciding he would go to the loft anyway, neither the thought of spending another night in Division nor the thought of returning to the loneliness of his king-sized bed in his empty apartment appealed to him in the slightest.

* * *

A little less than three quarters of an hour later, Michael found himself standing at the entrance to her building. Circumventing the security measures she had in place was just as easy to him now as it had been the last two times he'd shown up unannounced. Silently creeping up the stairs to the loft, he breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of a very familiar lump underneath the sheets.

A smile tugged at his lips and for the first time since he had left her, he felt a feeling of peace spreading through him, warming him from the inside out. Coming here had been the right decision, even if it was only for a few short hours.

A couple of quick but quiet strides brought him to her. He knelt beside the bed and slowly reached out, smiling at her choice of sleep attire. A couple of fingers softly connected with her face as he brushed her hair behind her ear. Nikita woke instantly, drawing a shuddering breath at the unidentified touch and releasing it on a sigh as she opened her eyes to look into his glowing ones.

"Hi." The sound of her sleep hoarse voice was music to his ears and he bent down a little as she pushed herself up slightly to catch her lips in a tender kiss. His lips lingering over hers, her head cradled in his hand, he whispered back to her, "Hi."

Nikita pressed her lips to his again for a slightly lengthier but just as sweet mating of their mouths, her tongue darting out to caress his bottom lip lovingly, before deepening their kiss. Resting on one elbow, her free hand came up to his neck, holding him to her as her fingers burrowed into his hair. She heard Michael make a soft sound of pleasure in the back of his throat, which made her smile a smile as old as Eve, just as she released him from their kiss. Michael sighed and closed his eyes as she whispered, "I wasn't expecting you back tonight."

"Hmm, I sent you a text a few hours ago..."

"You did?", Nikita sat up straighter and reached for her phone. Pressing the home button, the screen lit up with a preview of Michael's message, sent at 10.02 p.m.. "You did", she affirmed, "I'm sorry, I don't know why I didn't hear it..." Checking the volume and adjusting it accordingly, she added soberly, "Sound was nearly off, I must have slept right through it..."

Nikita replaced the phone next to her gun on the nightstand and Michael reached for her again, enveloping her in his arms and burying his face in her hair. Nikita kissed his cheek and hugged him back, frowning a little at his lack of a verbal response and the overload of affection he bestowed upon her as he held on to her tightly.

"Is everything okay?", she asked him, worry evident in her voice.

"Yeah...", he was silent for a beat, "I haven't had the chance to find out more about the black boxes or the guardians yet, it's been hectic." Nikita squeezed him to her a little, he sounded tired and she most definitely wasn't going to pump him for information at this time of night.

"On the up side, for now I have no reason to believe Percy or Amanda suspect anything either", Michael continued.

Nikita let out a sigh of at least partial relief at this bit of info, "Good."

She pulled back a little to look at him. "How are you?", she enquired while stroking her fingers through his hair.

His trademark half-smile appeared, "Tired."

 _Dead on your feet's more likely_ , she thought taking a good look at him, but she didn't tell him that. Instead she tilted her head and semi-playfully asked, "Then why don't you take off your clothes and stay a while?"

"I have to be up in...", Michael glanced at his watch, "...four hours."

She looked at him curiously, "How much sleep did you get last night?"

"Less than that", his half-smile stretched to a full one at her overprotectiveness.

She flopped back down on her tiny bed, curling back on her side and holding up the sheet invitingly. "Come to bed then", her tone indicated she was not taking no for an answer and in case he wasn't convinced of that fact yet, she added, "I'm not letting you drive home like this."

Michael bent down to gently peck her lips and then did as she asked. Stripped down to his underwear, he slid between the sheets and into her waiting arms. One of his hands came around her and burrowed underneath his shirt to touch the warm skin of her back. His voice was slightly muffled as he nuzzled her neck, "You're wearing my shirt."

 _Busted_ , she thought and considered a few answers before settling on the simple truth. In a timid voice she replied, "It smells like you."

Michael pulled her in closer and rolled onto his back, taking her with him and settling her on his chest. "I missed you too", he whispered as he placed his fingers underneath her chin to tilt her head up and catch her lips in a searing kiss.

When they broke apart, Nikita's hand that had cupped his jaw, slowly stroked over the side of his face. She looked her fill of him and smiled the most endearing smile Michael had ever seen gracing her lips. One hand tracing patterns on her naked back and one tangling in her hair, he brought her face down for another loving kiss or two before she wished him goodnight and rested her head over his heart and tucked her fingers beneath his ribs.

Michael felt Nikita drifting off almost instantly and as he let the feeling of utter peace at having her in his arms again wash over him, he let out a sigh, closed his eyes and joined his love in slumber.


	13. Chapter 12

*12*

Nikita woke a few hours later to the insistent beeping of the alarm on Michael's phone. Michael himself was completely oblivious to the sound and still fast asleep. She reached over to press the snooze button. The fact that he slept through the irritating noise of the alarm signified his level of fatigue. She wished she could let him sleep, keep him with her in the warm haven of her bed... maybe someday, when this fight against Division was nothing but a bad memory.

For now she would have to settle for being able to gently wake him herself. And so she did. Her fingers stroking over his eyebrow and cheek as her lips softly brushed over his. She knew the exact moment he came awake at her touch. The pressure of his fingers on her back increased the tiniest bit and his face angled to hers like a bird turning to bask in the first rays of sun.

The first thing Michael was aware of as he was coaxed into consciousness, besides the comforting weight of Nikita's upper body against his, was a faint tingle in his lips. The next thing he noticed were her slender fingers caressing his features and her warm breath tickling his skin as she huskily wished him "Good morning". His arms tightened around her of their own accord and his mouth met hers in a slow and sensual kiss.

He rolled them both over, hovering above her and carefully keeping his weight on his elbows as he thoroughly explored her mouth. One of Nikita's feet gently disturbed the fine hair along his calf as she traced it upwards and her hands busied themselves stroking his back and tangling in his hair as his did in hers. A low sound in the back of her throat made Michael break their kiss. His eyes still closed, he rested his forehead against hers and asked, "What time is it?" His gravely voice, darker than usual, caused by sleep, sent a shiver up her spine.

"I'm guessing about 4.55 a.m."

Michael groaned, _way too early to be really rested and already too late to let kissing progress into something more_. In the back of his mind he started thinking he'd like to arrange for a wake-up call as wonderful as this one was, every day. Preferably with a bit more time to be able to properly take advantage of it. Nevertheless, the words that left his mouth were not fuelled by desire, but rather brought forth by his sense of duty, "I have to go get ready." Duty bound or not, he sounded more than a little reluctant to actually start the day.

When he made no move to get out of bed, Nikita nipped at his lips once and then lightly kissed him again. She didn't want him to feel torn between duty and desire. As honourable a man as he was, she knew desire would lose in the end every time no matter from what angle you considered it. So she decided to take 'desire' out of the equation for now and promised herself she'd keep on choosing to do so whenever necessary in the future until 'duty' - at least to Division - wouldn't be an issue for him any longer.

Framing his face between her hands and lightly kissing him a final time, she whispered encouragingly to him, "Go take a shower. I'll have a cup of coffee for you when you get out."

Resisting the urge to bury his face in her neck, hugging her close and letting the world pass them by, Michael heaved a sigh, got up and made his way to the bathroom, yesterday's clothes tucked beneath his arm. It took a few seconds for Nikita to remember that she'd stored away his things day before last. As soon as she did, she jumped out of bed and ran after him.

Her bare feet slapping against the wooden floor, Nikita caught up with Michael just before he closed the door to hand him his bag, which she'd hastily pulled from the cupboard she had stuffed it into, "I put it out of sight in case of unexpected visitors", she offered by way of explanation. A rueful grin stretched her mouth as one hand splayed over his chest and the other transferred his bag to him. His free hand came round to curl around her neck and he pulled her in closer to kiss once more, "Thank you". His eyes conveyed everything he didn't put into words and she kissed him right back, understanding perfectly.

Michael hadn't just thanked her for bringing him his necessities or for the coffee she was currently brewing as she listened to the water running through the pipes while he readied himself for the day. He had thanked her for the same things she was grateful for in return. The acceptance, compassion, understanding, peace and most of all the love they found with each other was worth everything.

A few minutes later Michael appeared looking freshly groomed and wonderfully handsome despite the dark circles underneath his eyes. Nikita greeted him with a smile and handed him his coffee. He thanked her again and took a long sip of the warm brew. Glancing at his watch he saw he only had about ten minutes left before he needed to leave.

Nikita observed him quietly for a bit, guessing at his thoughts. "Come back tonight Michael."

"Nikita I...", he started to tell her he wanted too, but left off on a tired sigh and finished with, "We have to be careful."

"Hmm, I know", she said as she folded her hands around her own cup.

"Come back anyway. And come a little earlier than last night", she told him. When she saw he was about to object, she held up a hand to hold off his reply. She took a sip of her coffee and turned around to grab her brand new signal jammer. Placing her cup on the nearest surface, she took his hand and placed the device in it.

Michael's eyes widened slightly as he recognised what she gave him. He was obviously impressed. "This is the most advanced one there is. Where did you get it?"

"Trade secret", she winked at him.

"Nikita...", he warned her.

"Mi-chael", she singsonged back at him. It didn't have the desired effect. _Always so serious_ , she thought to herself. _This will take a little more effort_ , so she tried to rationalise with him even as she explained, "It's not that hard to come by if you know who to ask and have money to spare." He raised an eyebrow at her and took another sip.

"Think of it as an investment", she quipped and when he still didn't loosen up, she sighed and took a step forward, standing very close and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"What do you want to do then?", she asked. "Go back home to an empty apartment tonight when this little gem...", she nodded her head towards the device in his palm, "... just as easily lets us be together without anyone being able to trace you anywhere near here?" She took care to keep her voice soft and inviting, soothing even and Michael sighed as he rested his forehead against hers. "No..., I don't."

"Then come back tonight."

Michael nodded once, ceding to her logic, for now at least. Freeing his hands, he placed his half-finished coffee near hers and sat the state of the art signal jammer next to it. Framing her face between his palms he kissed her once, twice and then breathed her in as he held her close.

Nikita let out a relieved sigh and tightened her arms around him for a second.

"I have to leave", he whispered against her hair.

Nikita pulled back a bit and lifted herself to stand on her toes to kiss him. He tasted of coffee and mint and she savoured it for a moment before she let him go and wished him goodbye.

"Be careful", he requested.

Nikita smiled at him, "Always."

Michael raised his eyebrow again.

"Don't worry so much, hon. I'll see you tonight."

He didn't reply, he just briefly pressed his lips against her forehead and was off.

Stifling a yawn, Nikita laughed to herself at hers and Michael's own little version of domesticity. She considered starting her own day too, until she looked at the time. Her decision swiftly made, Nikita turned on her heel and went back to bed to catch another few hours of much needed sleep.

* * *

For the second time in a few hours Nikita woke to the sound of a phone blaring. The caller-ID informed her it was Alex and a quick glance at the time before she answered the call told her it was already 9.15 a.m.. Somewhat shocked she'd slept this late, she hurriedly answered her phone, "Morning Alex." Nikita frowned at how groggy she sounded and apparently Alex had noticed it too.

"Nikita? Did I wake you?"

But Nikita didn't get a chance to reply as Alex went on, "That's not like you." The young girl's voice went down in pitch and picked right up again, "Oh my god! Do you have a boy there?"

 _A boy?!_ Sometimes it was easy to forget how young Alex still was and at other times it wasn't. _Oh dear god. No, no, definitely no boy. I did have one very perfectly gorgeous man here,_ Nikita answered only in her mind as Alex rambled on. "Who is he? Wait don't tell me! It's that CIA guy right?"

 _Ryan Fletcher?_ Again Nikita only replied in her head as her fantasy of Michael crashed and burned by the insertion of a very sweet and noble, but so not her type - company man.

There was no stopping Alex though, she was on a roll. "I knew it!", she continued.

 _No Alex I'm not involved with Ryan. It's my ex-handler, your current handler, that warmed my bed last night and a few amazing nights before that too. You know the one, tall, dark, handsome, slightly broody at times, very sexy..._ Oh she was so not going to break the news to Alex like this... In the meantime Alex was squealing and saying how happy she was for her mentor, that she should have someone in her life too, that she hoped she found with him what she herself felt when she was with Nathan.

Nikita heaved a sigh at the mention of Nathan's name, _alright, no further, this ends here._ "Alex? Alex!", only on the second invocation of her name, the girl fell silent. "I don't have a boy here", Nikita rolled her eyes at her own choice of words, "And there's nothing going on between me and Ryan, okay?"

"Oh, okay", Alex sounded crestfallen, "That's too bad." _Oh no, it most certainly isn't_ , Nikita thought to herself picturing Michael's face as she'd kissed him awake this morning.

"Why were you still in bed then? You're not ill are you?", her protégé's concern was genuine and Nikita's face transformed with a smile.

"I'm fine, I just didn't sleep enough last night, so I went back to bed."

"Oh." Alex's disappointment at the lack of excitement involved in Nikita's sleeping late was evident.

"How are you?", Nikita asked.

"I'm okay."

"Did you think about what we discussed yesterday?", Nikita took care to keep her tone as nonthreatening as possible. The last thing they needed was for Alex to feel hassled and put her defences up again.

"Nikita, I can't..." The hesitancy Alex still expressed was clear from the few words she used and the tone she spoke them in. Nikita remembered back when she was in a similar situation with Daniel. Michael had warned her, Amanda had warned her and still she hadn't been able to end it, to protect Daniel from the fate that had been his the moment he laid eyes on her. She knew that Alex held out an irrepressible hope that her's and Nathan's story would end differently, just like she herself had had with Daniel...

Nikita sighed before answering, it wasn't to hard to relate, "I know Alex...". On the other end of the line, she heard Alex sigh too as Nikita got up from her bed. Rummaging through her stock of gadgets, guns and counterespionage gear, she found what she was looking for, the silver of the 'lipstick' tube glinting in the sunlight as she held it up. If she couldn't get Alex to believe that her and Nathan's budding relationship would end no differently than all the other ones between agents and civilians before it, the least she could do was equip Alex with whatever she would need to keep the threat Division posed to Nathan at bay for as long as possible.

"Do you have time to go for coffee or something?", Nikita asked of the young woman. "There's something I want you to have."

* * *

It was close to 11 a.m. when the antique bell above the door of the deli where they had agreed to meet up in for brunch, jingled. Nikita looked up from her table in the back corner to see Alex stepping over the threshold. Spotting her mentor quickly, Alex made her way over and slid into the booth, seating herself across from Nikita.

"Hey", she greeted.

"Hey yourself", Nikita answered with a smile. Her smile wasn't returned though. Alex was fidgeting and looked ill at ease, Nikita sighed.

"Alex?" Her former trainee looked up at her and Nikita continued, "Relax. It's me, remember?" The corners of Alex's mouth lifted up a little, a hint of a smile peeking through. "Let's just have a nice meal together okay?"

"Yeah... I'm sorry Nikita." Nikita just shook her head at her, no apology was necessary, she opened her mouth to tell her that, only to be interrupted by the waiter standing at her back, ready to hand them both a menu and take their order for drinks.

A few minutes later a pot of fresh mint tea was delivered to their table and Nikita ordered herself a club sandwich with smashed chickpea and avocado salad, while Alex went for a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon.

"So tell me...", Nikita started as soon as the waiter turned away, "... how are things really?"

Alex tilted her head at her, another smile ghosting over her lips, "Are you sure you want to know?"

Nikita narrowed her eyes at Alex which in turn made Alex sigh and proceed to tell her about the diminishing after effects of her rehab session with Amanda. How she had tired easily shortly after but didn't anymore. And how she didn't think Amanda posed an immediate threat right now. Nikita warned her and told her she knew better than to believe that, to still beware. Amanda was like a dog with a bone. She might seem to have let up, but hard gained personal experience taught her she would never give up. Alex seemed to be considering Nikita's words when their food was brought out.

Nikita decided then and there to keep mum about herself and Michael as long as Alex was not seeing things clearly and instead focus on Alex herself in order to be able to keep an eye on her as much as was possible.

When the waiter had turned away again, Nikita prodded Alex some more until she spilled the beans on her weekend spent with Nathan in the Hamptons too. Taking a bite of her sandwich, Nikita listened to Alex's carefully chosen words and was again reminded of herself not so long ago. She wouldn't warn Alex explicitly anymore on how dangerous a path she was threading, it wouldn't do any good, the girl was in love. And besides, deep down Alex knew perfectly well this relationship would not last herself.

She'd been through so much the last few months, years actually. Nikita more than understood Alex's need for feeling something good, for wanting to turn a blind eye to the very real threat Division - specifically in the person of Amanda - posed to her. And even though she couldn't stop Alex from doing whatever she needed to do, she could and would try her very best to aide her in keeping herself and her neighbour turned lover as safe as possible, for as long as it took for Alex to reach the only conclusion possible.

Cutting off another piece of her sandwich and popping it in her mouth, Nikita put down her cutlery and rummaged around in her handbag. Fingers coming into contact with smooth, cool metal, she pulled out the lipstick tube and put it on the table top. "For you", she told Alex.

Alex reached out and closed her hand over it, a question mark in her eyes, " You got me lipstick?"

Nikita smiled at her and winked, "Magic makeup. You will find that this particular shade will erase all your previously not so smudge proof lipstick from the guy you've been kissing with just the tap of a key."

Alex got the message loud and clear and sticking the tube into her purse she told her, "Thanks Nikita, I…"

Nikita just waved a hand at her, "It's nothing, just be careful okay?"

"Yeah", Alex bit her lip and nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Good, then eat your bagel, you haven't even touched it yet", Nikita said in a stern voice but with a smile in her eyes.

"Yes mom", Alex said as she brought her arm up in a mock salute, but in her eyes Nikita saw the truth of things clearly. Alex was grateful she watched out for her even if she did think Nikita to be somewhat overbearing from time to time.


	14. Chapter 13

_This story is slowly coming to a close, only one chapter left after this one. It's been kind of quiet but traffic stats show people are still reading, so here's the next part. Enjoy!_

* * *

*13*

Inwardly cursing in every single language he knew, Michael resisted the urge to jam the keyboard through the screen of the station he was working on. A persistent stabbing pain behind his eyes, threatened to develop into the mother of all headaches. The price he'd pay for lack of sleep and unsuccessfully sitting behind a monitor for too long. He rolled his head from one side to the other, trying to relieve some of the stress on the muscles in his upper back and neck. His head felt heavy and the muscles between the base of his skull and his neck too short.

He'd been trolling through Division's computer system for the past several hours hunting for something on the guardians and the remaining black boxes. Without luck. Of course he hadn't expected there to be a directory named 'guardians' or 'black boxes' or anything of the sorts, but he also hadn't expected not to find a single clue or trace.

Taking a deep breath to curb his frustration, he tried the one last thing he could think of. Typing in the string of code he started his last search attempt. One file stood out. He opened it and saw it was some kind of log, different from the ones he dealt with on a day to day basis. In it he found mention of locations, rarely distributed assets, dedicated money flows and communication patterns. This could be something. The only problem was recognising the definitive pattern, if there even was one.

At first glance it was clear that everything mentioned in this file was in some way connected to one of thirty-something big metropolitan areas in the world. For a split second Michael imagined there being more black boxes than they had thought up until now, but shoved that idea out of his mind again immediately. More than thirty was too much. In such an amount lay liability instead of security. Percy was a lot of things, stupid wasn't one of them.

Still, that knowledge didn't get him and Nikita anywhere near finding and destroying the remaining boxes though. More than thirty possible locations was too much without knowing who they were looking for. It would take them years to search through them all. He looked at the data carefully once again but couldn't find anything to narrow down the search. Thirty-four possible locations...

He'd need more intel, names preferably, since he was familiar with most agents scattered around the globe on routine Division business or in more definitive covers. But for that he would have to dig deeper, something he wasn't prepared to do because sooner or later his attempts would be noticed by Birkhoff and there was no telling whom the computer-whizz would inform of Michael's unauthorised search attempts first. Himself or one of their leaders? Usually Birkhoff would confront Michael before doing anything else but in this case... Michael was not prepared to take that risk.

They would have to figure out another way to find the remaining guardians and their boxes. Michael had a feeling Nikita wasn't going to be pleased at his reluctance to dig a little deeper, or maybe it was just that he was disappointed with himself on some level and frustrated with Percy at being kept out of the loop on this. He was supposed to be his damned second for crying out loud.

The stabbing pain inside his skull got to an intolerable level so Michael erased his search queries and file entries and logged off of his workstation. Seven thirty already, his watch told him. He wondered if this was what Nikita had had in mind when she'd told him to come to the loft a bit earlier this evening. In any case that's where he was headed as he left the darkened halls of his self-awarded prison for the day.

* * *

Nikita sat on the edge of her large freestanding tub as she turned on the tap. Warm water gushed from the wide spout over her hand. Finding the temperature to her liking, she took a sip from the glass of merlot she'd brought with her, before pouring a generous dollop of her favourite bath-foam into the rapidly filling tub. She had no idea when Michael would actually come over tonight, but since she wasn't the type to sit around and do nothing while she waited for her man to show, she was going to pamper herself and have a nice little soak.

After her brunch date with Alex this morning, the two women had gone their separate ways again and Nikita, not wanting to return to the loft quite yet, had gone on an impromptu shopping spree. She'd treated herself to a few new outfits and when she passed a window with a gorgeous little set of purplish lacy lingerie on display, she couldn't resist getting that too. On her way home she'd stopped by a very good little Vietnamese take-away restaurant she hadn't frequented in some time to pick up an easy dinner for tonight.

Arriving home, she decided on a workout after she'd put away her purchases and take-away and now here she was, preparing to relax her tired muscles, just like last night only minus the frustration she'd felt then. All in all she was feeling pretty good about her day and was looking forward to the rest of the evening.

Nikita gathered a few other necessities and placed them and her wineglass on a little end-table strategically positioned next to the tub. She stripped out of her sweaty workout clothes, kicking them into a corner before stepping into the tub and sinking herself into her own little bit of citrus-scented heaven.

And that's where Michael found her not ten minutes later.

 _A sight for sore eyes, that's what she is_ , thought Michael as he silently stood in the doorway of the candlelit bathroom. She looked completely at peace and so very beautiful with her shoulders only partly visible above the bubbles, damp skin glistening, her delicate features totally relaxed and her long dark hair piled haphazardly atop her head in a loose bun.

He just stood there drinking her in for a few minutes and was quite certain she was oblivious to his presence until she spoke, not bothering to open her eyes just yet but with a smile ghosting around her lips, "Are you just going to stand there and stare all night, or are you going to come here and kiss me already?"

Michael's lips tugged up into a small smile and in a few steps he reached her, taking off his customary leather coat and draping it over the vanity in the process. Kneeling beside the tub, he leaned over her and touched his lips to hers in a chaste kiss, "Hi."

Nikita opened her eyes at that, "Hi yourself." She sat up a little and then added, "You're here early." One of her hands snaked up out of the water to frame his chin and guide his mouth to hers again for a slightly lengthier kiss.

Her lips were soft and warm against his. She tasted of red wine and Michael found himself savouring her taste even though the strain on his neck from his awkward position over the edge of the bath made his headache intensify for a moment. Nikita seemed to pick up on the fact that he wasn't quite feeling his best, because her fingers released his chin to lightly stroke his jaw and her mouth left his to ask, "What's wrong?"

Michael kept his eyes closed, let out a sigh and carefully shook his head. "Nothing." He just wanted to be with her. Just being with her had already made him feel much better than the industrial strength painkillers he'd downed on his way out of Division had until now.

Nikita frowned. She studied him closely for a second and came to her own conclusion, "You have a tension headache."

Michael sighed again and let his head hang forward a bit, she knew him too well. Nikita's fingers made their way over to his neck to softly stroke his skin, "How bad is it?" She remembered from years ago he'd suffered them every once in a while, usually after a period of time with a very demanding workload. The worst ones had left him next to incapacitated until they passed.

"It's okay. I already took something for it." He did the math in his head, "It should kick in soon."

Nikita watched him carefully once more, concern written plainly across her face, "Are you feeling sick?"

"No."

"Light sensitive?"

The corners of Michael's mouth turned up slightly once more in amusement and affection over her concern for him, "No".

Nikita let out a relieved breath, "Good". She was glad for him it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She pressed her lips against his forehead in a lingering kiss, her fingers all the while softly stroking his neck. "Why don't you take off your clothes and join me then?", she suggested.

One of Michael's hands cupped her face and he brought his lips to hers for another sweet kiss, before he stood up and started to unbutton his shirt. He still hadn't opened his eyes, which told Nikita all she needed to know. He might not be sick, but he was definitely in pain.

He let his shirt drop to the floor and kicked off his shoes, pushing them out of the way with his feet so they wouldn't trip over them later. Nikita sat watching him as inch after inch of skin was revealed, admiring how beautiful he was, how very male and so very incredibly sexy. The sight of his naked body made butterflies take flight in her stomach and a tingle travel trough her body. She bit her lip as pure, unadulterated lust pooled low in her belly and then berated herself for her semi-lewd thoughts and feelings as Michael pushed the pile of clothes next to him over to his shoes. _Leave him be Nikita, he's not feeling well._

"Come sit here", she softly told him as she indicated the space in front of her. Michael did as she directed, getting into the water a bit more gingerly than she had expected, and slowly lowered himself to sit between her bent knees.

Nikita placed her hands against his muscled back, fully intending to wrap them around him and guide him to rest against her, when she felt the tightness in them and another idea struck her. Gently pressing her lips to his neck for a brief moment, she reached for the body oil she'd placed on the small table next to the tub to rub into her skin after she'd finished her bath. It would work nicely for what she now had in mind too. It would definitely kill the bubbles but she found she didn't care about that all that much.

Unscrewing the cap, she poured some in her hand and warmed it between her palms before she spread it over Michael's shoulders and back. He let out a groan as she did so, so she took care to keep her touch as light as possible while her hands slowly traveled up to his neck, coating the back of his upper body completely with a light sheen of oil.

"Nikita", Michael called to her, his voice low and quiet.

"Hmm?", she replied as her fingers got to work on the tense muscles beneath his shoulder blades, gently kneading them.

"You don't have to…"

"Shh." She pressed her lips to his shoulder this time, "Let me."

Michael let out a shuddering breath and leaned into her touch a little more. A calm settled over him as her clever fingers slowly manipulated his muscles into releasing the tension they held. For the first time that day he felt as if he could breathe deeply again. And that's what he did, filling his lungs with fresh citrus-scented air as he concentrated on her fingers slowly working their magic on him.

Nikita's hands traveled slowly upwards, paying special attention to a knot between his shoulder blades, patiently rubbing it over and over until she felt it give way enough that she dared increase the pressure a little. Maybe she was too bold, because as soon as she pressed her thumbs into the muscle a bit more firmly Michael let out a low groan.

She eased up immediately. "Am I hurting you?", she spoke in a low, slightly more husky than usual, tone of voice.

"No", his reply a whisper, "That one is just a little tender."

Nikita sighed and continued on. Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, she worked up towards his neck and as Michael relaxed, he let his head lean forward more and more until it rested comfortably in his hands lying atop his pulled up knees.

Her fingers and hands were getting tired but still she worked on until the tension in his neck slowly started to melt away too and Michael turned his head in his hands. Nikita smiled a secret smile. She could tell he was just enjoying the feel of her hands on him now instead of focussing on relaxing the muscles she was massaging and that was something she herself enjoyed immensely.

Tired or not, she was happy to give him this small comfort and kept on lightly kneading. When her hands were rubbing over his shoulders for a second time, Michael let out a sigh and lifted his head from his hands, sitting up himself. He grabbed one of her hands within his and brought it up to his mouth, kissing her knuckles, "Thank you."

"You're welcome hon", she smiled at him as he turned his face towards hers. Catching her lips with his, he kissed her, deeply and full of tenderness at the same time. Her one arm still held against him, her hand enveloped in his, Nikita dropped her other hand from his shoulder to wrap around him. Snaking it underneath his arm to splay her fingers over his heart. She pressed his back against her chest a little more and coaxed him to lay back against her when their kiss came to an end. He went more than willingly and rested his head against her shoulder as her back connected with the back of the tub.

They settled in. Michael wrapping one hand over one of her knees as they framed his lower body, while the other still covered one of hers, softly stroking those wonderful fingers of hers. Nikita pressed her lips against his temple and sighed.

"Feeling better?", she asked. She took his drowsy "Hmm" for a yes and squeezed him to her a little tighter, resting her head against his and closing her eyes too.

* * *

"I've been digging around for info on the black boxes and the guardians", Michael's smoky voice called to her.

They were sitting on opposite sides of the sofa in the living space of her loft, the containers of reheated take-out shared between them. Both of them had dressed in nothing more than their underwear and a comfy shirt, both of which happened to belong to Michael.

Her mouth full with a big bite of Vietnamese food, Nikita tilted her head at him and implored him with her eyes to elaborate as she chewed.

"I can't narrow it down to less than thirty-four locations, without risking compromising my cover."

Nikita couldn't decide if the little tidbit of inability he just revealed was due to his more cautious nature or not. What she did see, was that he believed it was impossible at this moment and that this clearly made him uncomfortable. So she decided forgoing on asking why exactly he thought it impossible and exploring other options. She wasn't going to push him, not yet at least.

"We know one of them is in London."

Michael looked at her in surprise at her knowledge of another definitive location.

Nikita shrugged impishly at his surprise, offering up a non-verbal apology at not sharing this bit of intel sooner and then continued, "What we don't know is, who and where exactly in London."

Michael's eyes narrowed as he carefully took in her words and focussed on one word in particular. _W_ _e, she said. Not I. We_. "Who's we exactly?"

Nikita locked her eyes with his briefly and supplied him with the information as she brought another forkful to her mouth, "Me and Owen." She chewed her food as she almost immediately transferred her attention to the nearly empty food containers again, digging around in one of them for another piece of carrot and totally missing the not so happy look surfacing on Michael's face. When he stayed silent for longer than she expected she gave up her search and looked at him again. He was frowning now.

"Owen Elliot?", he asked, his voice darkening with dislike for the former cleaner.

"Hmm-hmm", Nikita confirmed as she swallowed her food. "He's supposed to call me when he knows more. It's been a while though."

Michael grumbled. He didn't like her working with Owen. Truth be told he didn't like her working solo with any other man, but especially not with Owen Elliot. He didn't even trust the guy as far as he could see him, just like he didn't trust any other cleaner not to behave erratically. She couldn't know what Owen had been, what he'd done. Michael had thought her and Owen's 'involvement' a few months ago had been a one-off thing, learning that it wasn't made him feel like he'd swallowed a smouldering piece of coal. And not just because of worry for Nikita's safety, although that was certainly part of it.

Nikita studied Michael intently, _he was jealous!_ Nikita bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. Just like years ago when his jealous streak had surfaced, she felt a weird kind of special for provoking this feeling in him. Dark and brooding Michael, always serious, capable of great and all consuming fiery passion as she knew from first hand experience since only a couple of days ago, and with a tendency to get jealous too apparently. She found it sort of cute. Possessive, but cute.

Michael sighed, considering her alliance with Owen once more but knew he wouldn't be able to change her mind on him just like that. He'd have to go about it carefully. He was about to speak when she beat him to it.

"Babe?", Nikita crawled over to him to straddle his legs and wrapped her arms around his neck as she sat down in his lap before coaxing him to look at her. "You do know you have nothing to worry about right?", she whispered as his own arms wrapped around her of their own volition. Her lips pressed against his cheekbone, she added in an even quieter tone, "Never really had for that matter."

That last part threw him for a loop, _what about Daniel then?_ Michael was still wondering whether he'd heard her right, when she pulled back a little and demanded his full attention again.

"You have me… I'm all yours", she breathed over his lips while resting her forehead against his and framing his face in her delicate hands. He kissed her then, unable to resist and forgetting all about Owen and Daniel and what he had wanted to say in the first place at the feel of her in his arms, her body a pleasant weight against his own, her fingers tugging slightly on his hair as she moved against him. Nikita deepened their kiss, stroking his tongue with hers and sucking his bottom lip in between hers before releasing him. Desire catching flame and turning into explosive fire between them like a bonfire doused with gasoline.

"How's your head?", she enquired hoarsely.

"Better", he managed, nipping her lips while his hands disappeared underneath the shirt she was wearing, caressing warm and soft flesh until he encountered the lace of her bra.

"Take me to bed then", she told him and then added, "Love me."

Capturing her lips with his again, he folded one arm beneath her bottom, stood up and did exactly that.

* * *

"Oh god", her warm unsteady breath was a whisper against his neck. She moaned against his skin, "So good." And then he experienced the joy of feeling her body clenching around his for a second time this evening just before he felt her teeth grazing his shoulder as she shuddered in ecstasy.

"Yes", he breathed into her hair. ' _So good' is right. That's exactly what this is. So very good,_ he thought to himself, absorbing her body's tremors with his own. _There's nothing better_.

Michael placed one hand on the small of her back, while the other wrapped around her shoulders and sat up with her in his lap. The change in position brought their pelvises into even closer contact and Nikita let out a loud moan as she felt him going deeper inside of her than before. Her nails bit into the skin of his shoulder blades as her hips jerked against his.

Michael hissed, he was close himself, so very close. The tell tale quiver that danced up his spine and the tightening of his muscles, signalled his own need for release that wouldn't be denied for much longer.

Nikita was letting out soft, incomprehensible sounds of pleasure. The bliss she experienced as she came, made him want to follow her into it and at the same time, hold out just a little longer to watch and enjoy her experiencing it. He kissed her, her closed eyes, her cheek, her jaw, that little spot below her ear that made her moan.

Nikita's legs tightened around Michael's waist and she rocked her hips against his without her being consciously aware of doing so. Her body seemed to have taken on a mind of its own, operating on pure instinct, on something primal. Her breath came out in short puffs and when she felt his lips moving over her face an unbearable need to kiss him came over her. Her arms traced down his back and over his sides to travel over his chest until she could cup his jaw in both hands and bring his mouth to hers.

Her lips tingled when they touched his, her palate freed of that hollow feeling when their tongues met and stroked each other. Her hips canted to his again and together they rocked, slowly. Michael felt that overwhelming feeling preceding climax come over him and moaned. His arms full of Nikita, her soft, warm skin underneath his fingertips, her lower body meshed to his as closely as humanly possible, he kissed her with everything in him.

Michael stroked her shoulders, traced his hands down her arms - both of them folded between their chests as she held his face in hers. His fingers grazed the sides of her breasts and lightly tickled her sides as they passed on their way to the small of her back, pressing her belly firmly against his before finally landing on the smooth curves of her bottom. Nikita moaned again as he lightly squeezed, her inner muscles contracting around him for a third time and then he was gone, tumbling over the edge with her and nothing left for them to do but hold onto each other tightly in bliss.

* * *

Several heavenly lengthy moments later Michael became capable of conscious thought again. Nikita was still in his lap, draped rather bonelessly against him as he held her close, and still breathing hard, like he was. His killer headache was long since a thing of the past, heavy duty painkillers combined with Nikita's skilful touch ridding him of it.

He didn't even feel as tired anymore as he had felt all day, their lovemaking seemed to have had an invigorating effect instead of leaving him very pleasantly drowsy in the wake of it. He lifted his face from the top of her head after pressing a lingering kiss to it, his fingers tangling in her shiny, dark tresses as he raised his eyes to the ceiling.

 _Amazing_ , he actually couldn't believe how well they were matched, mated even, in body and in mind it seemed when it came to their lovemaking. Easily taking each other to such great heights, their bodies instinctively knowing each other. Knowing how to bring each other to the pinnacle of delight and both already knowing all their tells of reaching it without really learning. He hadn't thought such a connection possible, but Nikita and he seemed to have it without trying.

Her breathing had slowed to resemble something like normal again against his neck, but still Michael gently cradled the back of her head in one hand while the other was wrapped around her lean back. Keeping her in a protective hug as she came back to earth. The minute she did a happy giggle escaped her. He pulled her back from him a little to ask her what was funny, when she just smiled at him with a twinkle in her eyes and all his words died in his throat as he was overcome by her once again.

He kissed her anew, passionately, adoringly while he manoeuvred them both to lay back down on the bed. Nikita's back came to rest on the mattress anew and he stretched out above her, keeping most of his weight on his elbows as he trailed his fingers through her hair again. He traced the shell of her ear with a fingertip, her eyebrow with his thumb, her jaw with a few fingers at the same time and all the while he kissed her. Over and over. Not getting enough of her, never enough.

"I love you", he whispered huskily over her lips. One of her hands caressing his strong back and the fingers of the other tickling his neck at his hairline, she repeated his words back to him, "I love you too". And there was that happy giggle leaving her lips again. Contagious this time as he laughed softly with her.

His forehead pressed to hers and their bodies still intimately joined, they kissed and caressed to their hearts content until sleep finally claimed them.


	15. Chapter 14

_Kind of strange. Didn't think it would take me more than 44,000 words to write this thing when I started it. But it did and this is it, the last chapter of Interlude. Enjoy._

* * *

*14*

The next day went by without anything notable going on at Division for Michael. That wasn't to say he wasn't kept busy. He'd left Nikita's bed early again but not as early as yesterday, allowing himself the luxury of six hours sleep after the much shorter nights that had preceded it. He'd spared a lingering thought for what Percy and Amanda might have to say about him arriving an hour later than as per usual. As it turned out, the one thought he'd spared them was one to many as they hadn't deemed to come in before 8 a.m. themselves this morning, by which time he was already onto his third cup of coffee of the day.

He'd intended to let Nikita sleep this morning, she hadn't woken when he had carefully rolled from underneath her to have a quick shower and she hadn't woken from the smell of the fresh coffee he'd brewed and placed on the nightstand next to her gun and phone. He had tried to refrain from disturbing her peace by touching her face just before he left, but the angelic picture she presented had proven too difficult to resist. When she also hadn't woken from his featherlight caress over her features, he'd grown a bit bolder and had dared to softly press his lips against hers. He had lingered a bit, having trouble pulling away and figuring he'd better write her a note or something explaining his leaving without saying goodbye, when she'd stirred anyway.

And then he just had to reach out and touch her again, "Good morning."

"Hi", her sleep hoarse voice had greeted him.

"Sleep well?"

"Hmm", she'd stretched prettily, "You have to go?"

"Yeah."

She had curled her hand around his neck and kissed him sleepily, "Okay".

Michael knew he had not been able to help the grin pulling at the corners of his mouth and had kissed her again before telling her, "Go back to sleep Nikita".

She'd smiled at him while she lay back again and closed her eyes, "Maybe."

His grin hadn't left him until he'd entered Division. He also had not quite been able to keep from thinking about her during the day. Pictures of her popping up in his mind at the most inopportune moments, thoroughly distracting him from the business at hand and feeding his longing for her.

Michael finished up at close to 9 p.m. and even though he and Nikita hadn't spoken about when he would be able to come over again and he hadn't really been planning on that being tonight either, he found he couldn't stay away. He just needed to see her again. He'd pick up a change of clothes at his apartment before going to the loft and he would leave again tonight or early tomorrow morning at the latest. _Nobody would know_ , he told himself, pacifying the nagging feeling of unrest in his stomach at taking the risk of going to her place again.

About an hour later Michael dropped his bag at the bottom of the stairs in the entrance to Nikita's loft. The lights were on but he didn't spot her anywhere in the open living space. Figuring she must be in the bath - he didn't hear any water running, so that ruled out the shower - he was looking forward to joining her there again and made his way over. The tub was empty though, she wasn't in the luxurious bathroom. He checked her kitchen space next, no Nikita. _The roof then_ , she wasn't there either.

An uneasy feeling started to settle in his stomach when he entered her living space for the second time. A feeling that spread when he noticed a half empty mug of coffee next to her computer along with her gun and phone. Wrapping his hand around the mug he noted its contents were cold, had been for a while too, judging by the oily film covering the surface. He took out his own phone sending a message to hers in the hope that the phone he was currently staring at was an extra. His hope was short lived as the device vibrated and lit up with a preview of his message.

"Damn it", he cursed aloud and then silently asked, _where are you Nikita?_ Despite his growing concern for her he told himself not to jump to conclusions and that she probably only had just stepped out for a minute, he sat down to wait for her.

Fifteen minutes later, restlessness drove him to pace up and down the length of the loft, unable to sit and wait any longer. Wondering where she was, if she were okay, was slowly driving him crazy. _Why hadn't she taken her phone? Or her gun? Was she even armed? Was she safe? Had anyone found out about her hiding space and taken her?_ His thoughts escalated as minutes passed. He had no way of contacting her, no way of finding her if she was in danger. The loft provided zero clues as to whether she had left willingly or not, or where to.

Forty-five minutes later he was still waiting, now sitting stiff as a board in the same chair he'd sat in a little more than a week ago when he'd first discovered her hiding place. The only real difference in stance being the handgun he now held in his lap instead of the monster he'd held then. Quiet footsteps sounded on the stairs and Michael aimed his gun in the direction of the entrance.

He'd thought he'd be able to breathe easily again when he would see her safe and sound. The opposite was true. A rush of adrenaline gushed through his veins at the sight of her entering, her eyes falling onto his carelessly dropped bag, high heels in one hand, her dress coat draped over her other arm that was left bare by the little black cocktail-dress that was hugging her slender figure.

A smile transformed her face as she recognised him instantly, "Hey…". She took another few steps, not quite able to focus on his face just yet as it was partially hidden by the shadows and therefore not fully taking in his expression. "I didn't think I'd see you tonight".

He stepped into the light and at noticing the sternness of his features the smile faded from her lips and she tilted her head at him inquisitively. He had yet to speak. "Michael?"

"Where have you been?", his gruff voice demanded.

She frowned, _oh-kay_ … Was it just yesterday she had liked him being jealous and somewhat possessive from time to time? Had thought it sort of cute even? That feeling had entirely left her now. Michael took another step towards her and as he did so she saw the light reflecting off his gun, held by his side. Resisting the urge to take a step back, she took another good look at his face and then remembered she'd left the burner she used to communicate with him next to her preferred gun near the computer. _Damn it…_ It suddenly wasn't hard to put two and two together and figure out he'd arrived at six instead of four. He wasn't jealous. He was worried for her, had been scared for her safety.

"I'm fine Michael", she offered placatingly, "I was meeting a contact about Gogol. He insisted on meeting in that fancy new jazz club downtown."

She put down her shoes and draped her coat over a chair. That done she opened the hand that had been hidden under her coat to reveal another cellphone, "I took this one, because that's the number he has for me."

Placing the phone on top of her coat, Nikita reached underneath the skirt of her dress and unclasped the thigh-holster holding her 'baby' with a practised move. She presented the holster and gun to him for a second before dropping those onto her coat as well, "No place to hide the other one with this dress." She waved her hands in front of herself, indicating the short and sleeveless number she wore and emphasising the near impossibility to conceal any weapon underneath it.

Nikita watched him breathing hard. One hand clenched around his gun, the other fisted by his side, but other than that he didn't move. "I'm fine hon", she repeated and took a tentative step in his direction.

She didn't see the break in him, it happened so fast. One second he was staring at her, rooted to the floor, the next he'd put down his gun somewhere and had her in his arms. Pressing her body tightly against his own and crushing his lips against hers in a fierce kiss. Nikita wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back just as fiercely, one hand tugging on his hair a little. Apparently this only fuelled the fire in Michael more as he turned her around and backed her into the nearest wall rather roughly, cushioning her head with a hand while at the same time pushing his burgeoning arousal against her belly.

An answering shock of need travelled from her belly to her sex. She felt herself getting wet and she moaned through their kiss. Nikita lifted one long leg to wrap it around one of his, grinding down on his thigh. Emboldened by her response, Michael dropped his hands to her bottom and lifted her up. Both of her legs went around his waist immediately, squeezing his waist almost painfully.

He let out a moan of his own and thrusted against her roughly while his hands got to work on the zipper of her dress, but it seemed his fingers would not fully cooperate and as he fumbled, the zipper snagged on fabric just a few inches down. Leaving the zipper the way it was, his mouth latched onto the junction between her shoulder and neck, scraping her skin with his teeth. Hard enough to sting but not to leave a mark, wondrously. He pushed one wide strap of her dress down her arm as far as it would go considering her dress was only partly undone and growled in frustration at the fact that it wasn't very far and that she was wearing a bra, another barrier that prevented him from getting his eyes and hands on her skin the way he wanted.

In the meantime Nikita had made short work of undoing his pants, her hands busy between their bodies. And then Michael sucked in a harsh breath as one of her hands disappeared inside his boxers and grasped him tightly. Her clever fingers fondling his hot flesh, Michael forgot all about his frustration at her wearing far too much clothes to his liking.

His knees buckled for just a second before he locked them and held her securely against him with one hand as the other joined hers between their bodies. He pushed her dress out of the way and slipped his fingers past the edge of her wet panties to caress the damp flesh between her legs while his lips were busy kissing up her neck to her jaw, lightly abrading her skin with his stubble.

"Oh god", Nikita gasped as Michael's mouth closed over her jaw and his fingers started to insistently stroke the bundle of nerves at the centre of her desire. Fumbling with his boxers to free him from them, Nikita wiggled her hips a bit and lifted herself up just enough to guide his length towards the sleek hollow between her folds. Her intentions more than clear, Michael helped her in joining their bodies by ceasing his feverish massage of her bud and folds and dragging aside her panties far enough to let her guide his throbbing flesh to hers.

As soon as she touched the tip of him to the heat of her, his breath shuddered out of him and Michael couldn't help but thrust home in one sharp move. Nikita mewled and grasped at his shirt-covered chest with her now free hand while the fingers of the other tightened on his shoulder harshly. Both momentarily catching their breath as Michael let her adjust, their eyes locked and then all bets were off. Lips crushing together, hands groping and pelvises grinding, they hurtled to completion. The mating of their bodies hot and heavy, devoid of any tenderness, just driven by a need that was sparked by a soul-searing love for each other.

They came together, hard and fast. Both of them out of breath and completely spent, they slid down the wall together, landing on the floor in a tangled heap of limbs.

"Wow", Nikita was the first to find her voice again after their explosion of passion.

Michael was more than inclined to second her remark, but he was also thinking clearly again and something else was foremost on his mind, "Are you okay?"

"Oh yes", she replied huskily, a lazy smile tugging at her lips.

Michael wasn't so sure. "Did I hurt you?", he asked as he gingerly caressed her face.

Nikita's smile blossomed, "Not even a little." And then she kissed him, slowly and tenderly to reassure him. "I'm fine. More than fine to be exact", she smiled at him again and then they both laughed as they looked down upon themselves and each other, intimately joined with their clothes only slightly askew.

Nikita was the one to bring back the seriousness to their conversation this time as she remembered what had been the catalyst for their current state and asked him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah", was all he said as he hugged her close.

She buried her face in his neck, "Let's think of another system, okay? One were we can safely let each other know if we're going to be somewhere else unexpectedly…", her voice trailed off on the last few words. It didn't matter though, Michael had caught them anyway, just as he had caught their hidden meaning. His reply was a loving kiss to her temple and the tightening of his arms around her.

They sat on the floor wrapped in each others embrace, until it became too uncomfortable to stay like that. By mutual agreement they got up and stripped out of their clothes. Leaving on their underwear, they climbed into bed. Cuddling close underneath the sheets like two little kids and falling asleep almost instantly.

* * *

The shrill sound of the alarm on Michael's phone woke both of them the next morning. The first rays of sunlight shining brightly through the windows reminded Michael that he'd forgotten to reset his alarm to an hour earlier yesterday and squashed his plans to leave for Division before dawn. Nikita's arms tightened around him, hugging him close, while he reached over to turn off the annoying sound, knocking his phone to the floor in the process.

"Just a few more minutes", she whispered without opening her eyes and tangling a silky smooth leg with his.

Michael kissed the top of her head. He needed to go, but her skin was so soft and warm against his, her body wrapped around his in a perfect fit… _A few more minutes won't make a difference_ , he told himself and pulled her just a little closer with one arm while moving the other to link their hands, twining their fingers closely together.

She lifted her head to kiss him good morning. Fingertips lightly touched his stubble, tracing over his chin as her tongue gently stroked the seem of his lips, begging entrance. She got it. _How easy it was to just forget the world in her embrace._ The fleeting thought passed trough Michael's head as he rolled with her and lost himself in her kisses. The feel of her hand in his hair and on his neck after he let go of it to stroke down her arm, over her side, across her stomach and to her hip. Her foot that traveled daintily up and down his calf while his thigh was pressed up against the heat between her legs…

Michael imagined the look on Percy's face if he could see him now, his second in command involved in quite the make-out session with his former recruit, the recruit that had become the nail in the older man's coffin. The thought made him chuckle slightly even as it brought him back to reality.

"I should go…", he said and Nikita's eyes locked with his, "…This is too dangerous."

"For who?", her breathy voice asked and he saw the unspoken desire for him to stay right where he was plainly reflected in her eyes. She turned her face to lightly kiss his knuckles.

"I have a tracker implant, remember?"

"Yes", she breathed, a small smile forming, "and I have a signal jammer." The conversation they had had two mornings ago drifted back into his mind. Nikita lifted herself up to briefly catch his lips, hoping to seduce him into a lighter mood. His hand wandered over her belly, his fingers tickling her skin as they toyed with the waistband of her panties. "Or we could just take it out completely", she continued, her own hand coming down on his firm buttock slightly harder than intended, the slapping sound resounding harshly through the loft. She squeezed him slightly, soothing the sting as he vocalised his discomfort and replied, "Ow. Yeah I'm sure that wouldn't…", for a second, he pointedly looked down both their bodies, "… arouse suspicion."

Catching onto his double entendre easily, Nikita kissed his fingers again. "Yes, let's hope", she couldn't keep the smile from her lips.

"Nikita, I'm serious", Michael for his part, tried to get her to focus on the danger of what they were doing once again and failed miserably. Her arms came around him, pulling him closer, that humorous glint still present in her eyes.

"Yes I know", she said playfully. "Very serious, Michael's always so serious Michael." She kissed him then, catching his second and third uttered "Hmm-hmm" with her luscious lips. As far as directing him towards lighter issues went, it did as much good as his attempt to get her to fully focus upon the predicament they were sure to find themselves in if they weren't careful enough.

The next words to tumble from his lips didn't really surprise her then, "When are you going to tell Alex about us?", but Nikita couldn't prevent a sigh escaping at hearing them anyway, "Not now. She's under a lot of pressure right now."

Michael touched his lips to her fingers while she elaborated, "I don't know if she can handle…" A short silence fell as she lifted herself up once more before she continued, "… any big surprises." The last three words were a warm breath over his lips just before she kissed him again, demanding his full attention this time.

And then, just as both them were about to lose themselves in the sensual, unhurried meeting of their lips and tongues, an unexpected voice rang out, "Nikita?"

* * *

 _Finis_

 _Thanks for reading!_


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